Radio Pear with Madge & Monty: May 2006

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Mr Miller's Pear Shaped Thumbs

You don't have to be sober to take sharp photos
Anthony Miller's Photos

Monday, May 22, 2006

Peter Buckley Hill, of whom it has been said...

Peter Buckley Hill

EDINBURGH 2005

THE IDEA WINS THROUGH

2005 was the year in which the idea I'd been working for for ten years began bearing serious fruit.

At first, people didn't understand the logic behind free shows, and wondered why I should deliberately make a loss, even when they made a bigger loss. Then they understood, but didn't participate (I didn't really have the opportunity to offer space to others in most of that time, anyway). And then, once there was space for a full programme of other shows, people began to realise that free shows made sense. In 2005, there were about 25 in the three spaces (two at Linsays, and one at the Canon's Gait).

The 2005 Free Fringe was a triumph for all concerned, and an achievement of which I feel proud.

As far as my own shows went, there were good nights at PBHASC. Stand Up Tragedy and Other Disasters met with variable success; often, people came to the show expecting to see the old stuff, and I had to adapt so they could. Sometimes, I ran the whole new show; other times, a mixture of the new and the old. Stuffed sheep gags aren't for everybody. But some people said it was better than Dustman.

I stood for election for the Fringe Board of Directors again, and was again defeated. Again, the number of people who assured me that they had voted for me greatly exceeded the votes I actually got. They certainly made it difficult for people to join the Festival Fringe Society Ltd and vote. The deadline for joining was ambiguously phrased and several people were denied the opportunity to join. This is not good procedure.

It is not right that the Fringe is entirely financed by the personal losses made by performers, and yet there are only two performers on the Board, one of whom was not at the Fringe in 2005 at all. This must change. Email me if you want to discuss the politics and future of the Fringe.

On a back-to-performing note, I did 61 appearances in the 2005 Fringe, including my own shows, the Book Club, compering Fringe Sunday, and various guest appearances in other shows. I think this is probably as many as I've ever done, and I must give up the attempt to do one for every year of my age.

AI also found two new venues for Free Fringe shows. The Meadow Bar and the Jekyll & Hyde will both host Free Fringe shows in 2006, and it looks as if there will be over 60 Free Fringe shows. The idea has indeed taken off.

Cheap & Cheerful?

The Free Fringe: Edinburgh Fringe Festival
shows for Free from The Laughing Horse in 2005

With 69 FREE Edinburgh Fringe Shows... in Six Performance Spaces... in Four Venues
See 69 fantastic Fringe shows for Free.... also acts from venues such as the Pleasance, Gilded Balloon, Underbelly and the Assembly rooms performing parts of their shows for Free in daily shows with rotating line-ups... Experience an eclectic selection of Free Fringe shows from fantastic Scottish, British and world-wide performers - from Midday to 3am every day, right through the Edinburgh Fringe, in six performance spaces, in four great venues in the heart of town.

A Miller's eyeview of Pear Shaped

Anthony Miller's Page

Run To The Sun Newquay

Brian Damage & Krysstal will be appearing at Run To The Sun in Newquay on Friday 26 May in Arena 3 with...

Friday, May 19, 2006

Brian Damage & Krysstal Go Pear Shaped At Midnight

Unique comedy double act Brian Damage and Krysstal return for their sixth consecutive year with Pear Shaped at Midnight. The pair host up to three hours of madcap humour in the infamous back room of the Holyrood Tavern. LOADS of comics LOADS of laughs!

Pear Shaped comedy club was born in 2000 from the ashes of The Oval Comedy Club (RIP) which Brian started in 1997 before meeting Krysstal. There are now two Pear Shaped Clubs in London (Fitzrovia and @ Turnmills in Clerkenwell), one in Sydney, and the annual event in Edinburgh.Pear Shaped has the well deserved reputation of discovering and smothering new talent. Comedians new and old have performed at Pear Shaped over the years, including Edinburgh Festival favourites such as:* Malcolm Hardee (RIP) * Al Murray * Charlie Chuck * Daniel Kitson * Boothby Graffoe * Mark Maier * Reginald D Hunter * Dan Antapolski * Dave Thompson * Silky * Phil Nicol * Nick Wilty * Noel James * Shelagh Martin * Award winners: Paul Foot * Shazia Mirza * Hal Cruttenden * Nina Conti * Nic Sun * Wil Hodgson * and many others too humorous to mention!Brian says ‘We’ll book anyone! But only for 5 minutes.’ You can stand anything for 5 minutes. ‘You can be shit, you can be brilliant, but everyone gets the same time.’ In between Brian and Krysstal perform their special brand of humour and silly songs to create a wonderfully anarchic but comfortable atmosphere where anything goes.‘We get people returning year after year’ says Krysstal, ‘what’s wrong with them?’ Indeed Brian, Krysstal and Pear Shaped are Fringe favourites with audience and comedians alike. Drop in for a laugh, heckle or just fall asleep in the corner.

HOLYROOD TAVERN each Fri & Sat only, 4 to 26 August, from Midnight
TICKETS: £6 / £5. HALF PRICE PREVIEWS 4 and 5 Aug - £3
www.briandamage.net www.pearshapedcomedy.com
HOLYROOD TAVERN, VENUE 84, 9a HOLYROOD ROAD

REVIEWS
"...a line-up of acts ranging from the highly professional to the unashamedly amateurish.
It is wild. Madly wonderful."
The Stage (Aug 2002)

"..this unthreateningly cheerful atmosphere lends a real sense of fun to the evening
a unique comic experience that you really have to sample at least once."
Chortle.co.uk

“ Legendary…Brian Damage and top strangely straight-woman Krysstal… are a one-off cross-genre act but they have echoes of The Bonzos, the heyday of music hall and some rather seedy country and western club… four stars…I laughed like a drain”
John Fleming, Chortle.co.uk (Fringe Fest. Aug 2004)

“ – intelligent comedy, downright dirty stuff and silly songs”
SXNews, Sydney (2005)

“ – as daft and charming as they are funny…”
The Stage (Aug 2002)

“Brian Damage is a legend on the London Comedy Circuit….
cracking deadpan act.”
Chris Wilson – StandUpCom Magazine 2001

“ Always enjoyable…. incredibly funny…. His ‘Buddy Holly plays Oasis’ is a gem”
Chortle (The UK Comedy Guide 2000)

“If you like daft stuff you’ll love this new album… by Brian Damage and Krysstal”
TIME OUT (London 2001)

“..excellent but grumpy Brian Damage… his material is very dry,
his charm infectious”
IC Scotland.co.uk (Edinburgh Festival 2001)

“Brian Damage and his glamorous assistant Krysstal.. particularly engaging”
The List (Edinburgh Festival 2001)