Review by Steve Bennett

This show sees fresh-faced Fringe newcomer Peter Buckley Hill take to the Free Fringe stage with his first solo... oh hang on a minute that's not right. Anyone with more that a passing familiarity with the Fringe will know that PBH, as he's affectionately known, has been performing here for ever.

In this. his 12th show, Buckley Hill acknowledges that he's been doing 'the same old shit' for years but this time he's trying something slightly different, as he proceeds to document the year's major events so far in song form. Plus there's some 'old shit' thrown in, naturally.

Songs catalogue the whale lost in the Thames, the Liberal Democrat leadership elections, bird-flu, released foreign prisoners, Paul McCartney and the Fringe itself. The lyrics are always clever, the singing and guitar playing fairly pedestrian, but that's not the point. What really impresses is Buckley Hill's charming manner and warmth, he almost radiates an aura of fun, clearly enjoying himself as much as the audience and embodying the Fringe spirit. He gets the audience to join in on the songs on occasion, and most are happy to go along for the ride.

The between-song banter isn't brilliant, although a clever gimmick of using calendars to catalogue the trip through time garners some laughs. Technically this is a far from brilliant show: the songs are funny but not particularly inventive and the rest ponders along without going anywhere truly great. But Buckley-Hill himself is such a charismatic character that it doesn't matter, you're drawn along on a lovely journey through the past eight months as seen through his eyes, and you don't want the show to end.

While the reviewer in me knows that this show doesn't tick the right critical boxes to get more than three stars, I also know that I'll be going back to see Buckley Hill's 13th Fringe show....

Dean Love

Review date: 1 Jan 2006
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett