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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Steve Furst - in - On Canvas
Verdict: Glorious character comedy
Edinburgh - Jongleurs - August 03
Jongleurs - Leith Street - Venue 250 - 19.30 to 20.30 pm
Stuntman Dave 'The Danger' Pike's retired through breakdown. He's off the wall in more ways than one, working as a an art gallery guard and becoming characters in the pictures he stares at. It's a delight of funny and perceptive humour from one of the UK's leading comedy actors.
You may know Steve Furst as louche lamé end-of-pier star Lenny Beige. You may have come to Edinburgh specifically to see Steve Furst as Foreman Jury Member No 1 in Guy Masterson's astounding Twelve Angry Men at The Assembly Rooms. Well, Lenny Beige is hung up in a cupboard pro tem (but back on tv Channel 235 Agavago calling online bingo Saturday nights September 03). And the jury takes breaks. A perfect chance to catch 7 great characters, plus manic Pike himself.
Meet Mickey Monroe in The Hay Wain (John Constable 1821) which turns out to be a hay-cart heist gone wrong. Parisian Greek-restaurant-owning Jean-Jacques Yonda in Absinthe (Edgar Degas 1876), a man with a Liverpool accent, unreliable moustache, and a penchant for fellatio. Joost Van Zevbergen, ex lute-player for The Ambassadors (Hans Holbein The Younger). Landlord Morris, in the unenviable position of collecting Vincent's rent for the Bedroom At Arles (Vincent Van Gogh 1888).
Michel Legrand, correcting industrial truancy among the Bathers At Ansieres (George Seurat 1883). Salvador Dali's previously unknown mate Dennis Plaxton recalls lending him a watch, and inspiring Swans Reflecting Elephants, The Great Masturbator, The Persistence of Memory (the soft watch picture); he also reveals previously unattributed works, including Dogs Playing Poker, and Monkey On A Toilet. Egyptian pimp Sharat Lebnan explains exactly what was on the end of Picasso ('We knew him as Pee-Pee')'s brush before Les Damoiselles d'Avignon (Pablo Picasso 1907).
Steve Furst delivers an astounding set. Each of the characters, including Pike himself (a man with no truck for Piss Christ, Tracy Emin, and the Chapman brothers), is unique. Each is a subtle masterpiece of character. Steve Furst's tools are a sharp perception of gesture, intonation, body language, and a rare gift for the exact word. And a subtle ability either to guess and portray the spirit of the times (individual years from 200 or so), or to subvert it entirely; coupled with a delight in the pictures themselves, which infects the audience.
A master at work. Classy, gifted acting. Above all - very, very funny. A delight.
END
John Park
reviewed Friday 1 August 03 / Edinburgh Jongleurs
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
