Category Archives: Comedy

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain 30/04/11

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@ Music Hall Aberdeen

As I was being shown to my seat, the Ukulele Orchestra made their way on to stage, all suited up and looking smart as if they were a part of the philharmonic symphony orchestra. They began describing how such a small instrument has taken them all over the world to impressive places such as Norway and Japan, and then went on to describe each unique Ukulele that was being played on the evening; ranging from Soprano , to Concert, to Tenor, to Bass.

The entertainment that they provided is down to the simple, dry, and sometimes sarcastic, humour that they engaged with throughout the show. They didn’t try too hard to make things funny, they were just themselves; and even if they did, they made it blatantly obvious which increased the humour.
One favourite part of the performance for me was when the Tenor Ukulele player was asked to play a smaller Ukulele. As he was given the small Ukulele he pulled a confused face at it; handled it with curiosity; then let out a sigh of discovery, uttering the words, “Fridge magnets of Bavaria…” Such simple humour but instantly transformed the audience’s smiles into laughter.

Another particular favourite, which in my opinion was genius, was when they expertly fitted references to Wuthering Heights in to one of their arrangements. While doing so, the lead singer, for this part, explicitly said that he’d attempt it in a very broad Yorkshire dialect. As he shouted “Heathcliff!” at points, I can say without doubt that his attempted accent was brilliant.

Simple jokes continued to create roars of laughter in the Music Hall, such as the point when one member insisted that, as an orchestra, they have to play a classical song from “Saint Sean”… Silence encompasses the orchestra… Then, another member interjects, using a French accent, “I think it’s pronounced Saint-Saëns”. But even with this joking attitude again, their musical ability cannot be faulted. To play such a complex and beautiful piece on an instrument that is perceived by many to be pretty ridiculous, is beyond impressive.

Moments which topped their performance off was firstly, when one of the two women in the orchestra sang Teenage Dirtbag and hilariously sang, “I’ve got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby. Come with me Friday, bring your Ukulele”, which caused a massive cheer from the audience; and when the orchestra finished with their rendition of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, because we got to see one of the eldest members of the orchestra flailing his arms in a windmill motion at his soprano Ukulele, while releasing his long mane of hair from the restraints of his ponytail and head-banging along to the song.

I can honestly say it was fantastically entertaining, and I’d recommend it to anyone. Even if people are sceptical at the thought of the Ukulele, this is a must see performance. Through their brilliant humour and clever arrangements of both old and new songs, they definitely know how to please their crowds.

Josh Lee

Rebecca Black – Friday

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Aristotle, Descartes, Shakespeare, Nietzsche….Rebecca Black? Wordsmith, poets, philosophers, one and all. And now this young American girl can join this prestigious hall of fame after bursting onto the scene with her seminal hit, Friday. Ostensibly a deep pondering on life’s big questions, Friday manages to not only make us question things we may take for granted, but question life in general.
Sure, we’ve had such topics in life before. Deep meaningful musicians like The Smiths, Patti Smith, Johnny Cash and Frank Zappa have made us look inward at ourselves and outward at life and society in general, but never before has someone made us look so hard and deeply at everything.
The song begins with a chorus of ‘yeah’ type noises, the type usually to be found at the zoo when someone shows deep appreciation for the fact that monkeys can actually do things like throw fecal matter around. Don’t let this fool you, this is just setting us up for the masterpiece to follow.
The actual lyrics kick off, and the first verse is almost like a haiku, and just as spiritual, as young Rebecca pontificates on the importance of not only being fresh, but of having a healthy start to the day as she informs us that she must have her cereal. A strong and good message for the children out there. Take note parents. Of course like everything, breakfast is not free of time’s shackles, and it ticks on, causing everyone to rush, including Ms Black. This being a school day I imagine, she rushes down to the bus stop. To catch her bus.
But what’s this?! It’s her friends! And not just her friends, but her friends in a car, being driven by what appears to be the foetus version of Justin Bieber (I was going to say toddler or younger brother, but he looks about 5 anyway; and to think some of you girls like him! Shame on you all!). This brings a dilemma to our Zen master Ms Black. Which seat should she take?! This may seem like a small question in the scheme of things, but think about what she’s really asking; which SEAT should SHE TAKE? At this young age, the wrong choice could be disastrous. This is basically an entry exam to adulthood, to life! Don’t you see? WHICH SEAT SHOULD SHE TAKE?! THE FRONT SEAT OR THE BACK SEAT?!
After deciding on her seat, and indeed the course of her life for the ascent into adulthood, Rebecca informs us that’s it Friday, Friday. Seemingly we must all get down on Friday. Now I don’t know about you, but to me that’s a message we can all jive to. As she informs us, everyone is looking forward to the weekend, and she and her friends are no exception. Clearly a weekend of drinking, crack and hookers is on the cards. I say hookers as surely that’s the only way the Foetus Bieber will get some (hey if you’re old enough to drive a car, a convertible at that, then you’re old enough to take the hits). This is reinforced when she informs us all that they will all be partying’ and with use of the word ‘fun’ three times informs us of the impending fun. So like I said, drinking crack and hookers.
Fast forward quite a few hours, suggesting that perhaps the car is some new kind of Delorean, and it’s 7.45 and we’re told that they’re cruising down the highway. In fact they’re cruising so fast that she wants time to fly. Clearly this is some deep meditative reflection on the yearning of a young soul to spread her wings and take flight into the world. It’s time to leave the nest she’s thinking. And then she tells us again to think of fun (fun, fun), another clear hint about leaving the nest. Besides, if her parents are anything like mine then they’ll positively FROWN on crack and hookers. She also informs us that her friend is by her right, clearly a dig at the girl to her left. This other girl to the left is clearly not going to be in the gang for much longer. The rejection may lead her to a life of disappointing and unfulfilling one night stands with the fear of rejection keeping her from getting close to anyone. I speak from experience (if I’d chosen the FRONT seat!).
At this point all the fun, fun, fun and deep soul searching is getting a little too much for Rebecca, as she once more ponders which seat can she take, not realising that she has already selected one. Or of course she could be reflecting upon her previous seat choice, thinking that perhaps that her selection was rash and maybe regretting that she has utterly destroyed the life of a girl (the one to her left). To use a pun, the track then kicks into overdrive, not just musically but lyrically and educationally. You see it’s here that she reveals her true talent and potential for wordplay by telling us that today is Friday, but that yesterday was Thursday! That’s not all as she tells us that tomorrow will be Saturday! Then, with us reeling from the exquisite tapestry of words and concepts she has woven, the knockout punch is delivered when we are told that after Saturday, Sunday follows! Holy days of the week Batman! Breathtaking stuff.
The song takes a bit of downturn, and in fact goes quite creepy, as some rapper raps. He clearly isn’t up to the standard of young Ms Black when it comes to spitting lyrics, and this dude can be thankful he doesn’t have to square off against her in a rap off. It would be a massacre.
We thankfully are then turned back to Black, and Rebecca drives the message home about how it’s Friday and how it will be the weekend, something that she is sure we are all looking forward to. And of course that it will be fun, fun, fun. And who we are to disagree? So I’ll see you all out this Friday, partyin’ at the weekend having fun, fun, fun. And crack.
So remember where you were you heard this monumental moment in music history. This will be this generation’s JFK assassination. Something to tell the grandkids about. On a Friday. Provided you kick the crack habit of course.
On a side note, I think an awesome collaboration would be if Rebecca Black hooked up with the Frosties kid (musically you filth!). That would be GREAT!

Stuart Manson

Shed a Tear for the Death of the ASR Couch…

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Well, things are all lovely and new in the new studio here in in Butchart, but perhaps some of the dinghy charm it used to have has been lost. What we can do but weep?  It’s a health and safety nightmare that we’re all struggling to get through.

Given the amount of questions DJs have been asking, we though we’d better explain what happened to it, so everyone may rest a little easier. It’s in a better place now…

Step 1: Skin it.

Stage 2:  Tear the Carcass apart, always with health and safety in mind…

Stage 3: The Corpse…

So there you have it. Some of the remains were used in the Torcher and the rest will be given to fire. Spare a quiet moment when you next gaze at the heavens, and remember our old couch.

Dave.

Theatre Review – The Canterbury Tales @ The Space, Venue 45 – Running Torch Theatre Company

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More anarchic student humour from the Running Torch Theatre company, this time it’s Chaucer that they set about at with the same fervent gusto they showed for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. More audience participation abounds as people are encouraged to pick the next abridged version of one of the tales; cue onstage flurry of madness as they dash about setting up the next scene.  Before launching into it with the same manic energy and enthusiasm that makes their shows great fun too watch. They’re not going to win any awards for breaking any dramatic boundaries, but they make up for it with a feel-good romp through classic literature.

Dave Craig

Aug 10,13-14,17,19,22 17:15 (1hr) £7.00(£6.00)

ASR at the Fringe – Broadcast 01

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Here’s the first show in all it’s ramshackle glory, technical issues abound -but we got it done.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag – but then again, so’s the Fringe. Tune in next week for more diverse madness….

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RT1URT2Z

Theatre Review – Shakespeare Bingo: Hamlet! @ The Space at Venue 45 – Running Torch Theatre Company

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The Bards most bleak and bloody play done in an offbeat studenty style with a game of bingo thrown in. This was good fun, although I got in late because I went to the wrong venue and didn’t get a bingo card. However, I scoped out the card the lady beside me had and soon got the general jist of it: cross off the items you see in the play and call house. The lucky winner was rewarded by playing Horatio in the last scene and they stuffed the unfortunate soul into a pair of turquoise tights just to crank that embarrassment factor right up. There was some good really funny moments here. The King of Denmark / Alan Rickman impersonator was really good and the hammy over the top acting from the cast made the whole hour fly-by. It’s kind of like a Monty Python esque take on Hamlet updated with references to (urrgghh) Facebook and Lilly Allen. The cast were all clearly having a great time and there were plenty laughs. Silly, but good fun.

Dave Craig

Shakespeare Bingo – Hamlet! is at The Space @ Venue 45, until 21 August, 5:15pm.

Comedy Review – 08/08/09 – The Heresy Project: Kill Your God @ Espionage

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God is dead, in fact the idea of believing in god is ludicrous. Join Rick and Sully as the explore the alternative to religion – Fundamental Atheism. This is great show that pulls no punches and establishes even more credible reasons for not believing in the almighty. A well put together show with some great comic moments. Best of all it’s free too! And they’re doing it two times a day.

Dave Craig

The guys were good enough to have a week chat with us afterwards. Tune into the live broadcast to hear what they had to say. And as tribute to Atheism everywhere: here’s the instruction manual for life…..

Theater/Music Review – 07/08/09 – The Rex Roman Pink Floyd Show @ Underbelly Cowbarn

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This shows about some dude called Rex Roman, he likes Pink Floyd and plays air guitar. This is show is about the story of his life, told with the music of Pink Floyd as a backdrop. It’s a strange mixture of live acting and a live band as we meander through this actors tale. The band and are great, the actors are good too, it’s just a shame they decided to set it against what seems to be a pointless narrative that appears only to serve as an excuse to play some Pink Floyd covers. They’ve got great visuals and the Pink Floyd songs are cracking but I found the story side of it somewhat unnecessary.

Dave Craig

Comedy Review – 14/08/08 – No Country for Grown Men – Reginald D Hunter – Pleasance Grand (Edinburgh Fringe)

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Reg puts a lot of class and thought into his stand up. He has some great observational stuff about the gender differences and he seems to take great delight in trying to shock his audience. There was some guy behind me muttering ‘thats true’ along with some of Reg’s more salient points. It’s one of those comedy gigs where you’re invited to see the world through the comedian’s eyes and hopefully empathise with their perspective. Reg does it quite well, though his bit about his neice is a bit dodgy. The observation that Batman is a ‘republicans wet dream’ and the brilliant rational which goes it into are hilarious. I really enjoyed this. No Country For Grown Men – Reginald D Hunter – Pleasance Courtyard, 60 The Pleasance, Edinburgh. Jul 31 – Aug 14 @ 11:15

Comedy Review – 13/08/08 – Carl Donnelly Vs John Robins Vs Predator – Baby Bell 3 (Edinburgh Fringe)

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Two new comedy stars through their lot in together (‘We were too afraid to do our own shows.’) and perform a fine half hour each of stand-up. I first saw Carl in the meadows bar two years ago and he’s getting better. He’s also decided to start dressing like some sort of gun loving American / uber-geek, he’s got some good material. John Robins was good too, lots of funny stories from his life. Including a sorry story including Reginald Hunter. Sadly, The Predator played little part in this, it was just the sound dude in a mask. Carl Donnelly Vs John Robins Vs Predator – Underbelly’s Baby Belly, The Caves, Niddry St South, off Cowgate. Edinburgh.

Jul 31 – Aug 24 @ 19:20 (except 12th)