home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
drinks Monday 6 July 09
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
Kevin Shepherd: Comics Die in Hot Cars - Free!
Verdict: Red light on
Edinburgh 06 - Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar - 6-26 August 06 - 17:50 (1:00)
Kevin Shepherd gives a sneak view into the glamorous life of a comic. Turns out, it's not all chatting to Eddie Izzard.
Apparently 80% is travelling - time on stage is a minimal part of the working day. So Kevin Shepherd puts time in his car to good use – giving other acts lifts, and recording them. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes informative - mostly they're very worrying.
Although it means comics might play to the camera, he says they would to each other anyway (though the bitchiness tones down when the red light's on). Some of the more dramatic moments are when the camera’s off – such as accidentally killing a deer.
Kevin Shepherd describes the comedy circuit’s A-Z list of celebrity. A is regular telly work. Z is performing to your bathroom mirror. Every T comedian is trying to hang around with P comedians, to learn from them, make contacts - or simply get mistaken for one of them and offered a better gig.
He says the great leveller, that got him gigs he wouldn't otherwise have expected, was driving. Suddenly he was on at a good gig, only doing a short spot, but hanging around with B-listers. Because by the time someone's a B-lister, they need someone else to drive. Too many points on their licence.
This makes it sound more like a lecture than a comedy show, and in some ways it is - but it's also consistently funny. It's interspersed with clips of comics chatting, insulting each other, and having the sort of strange discussions that can only happen 3˝ hours into a 4-hour drive. Your mother versus your sister - 'if you had to'.
Today's Star From The Car is Papa CJ - his material is fine, and it’s good to get a solid slot of jokes, though totally unrelated.
Kevin Shepherd has some lovely asides. He says it's the only job he's done where no-one says 'Every day is different' - and the only one where it is. He drives for two hours to an audience of two. An MC gets punched; a promoter tries not to pay. There are statistics on late-night crashes, and passenger responsibility for entertaining talk without too much driver concentration - and being able to read a map.
It's a very different show from the usual comic mid-stage with a mike for an hour - but no worse for that. It's a good solid hour of laughs.
There's entertaining film from Jimmy Carr, mostly on the industry at his level. Yes, he does still drive himself to gigs. But maybe in a nicer car.
Cast Credits: Stars From the Car: (alpha order): Mark Allen. Mike Belgrave. Lewis Bryan. Jimmy Carr. Papa CJ. Aaron Counter. Nick Cowen. Matthew Crosby. Hal Cruttenden. Martin Davis. Peter Dominic. Carl Donnelley. Dougie Dunlop. Pam Ford. Rufus Hound. Steve Jameson. Joe K. Paddy Lennox. Mike Manera. Juliet Meyers. Steve Parry.. Alex Petty. Al Pitcher. Aaron Rice. Jay Sodagar. Liz Stephens. David Ward. Dan Willis.
Company Credits: Writer, Producer, Stagehand, Technical Support - Kevin Shepherd. Company - PBH Free Fringe. EdFringe Programme note: Adult material.
END
(c) Gill Smith 2006
reviewed Sunday 20 August 06 / Laughing Horse @ Meadows Bar
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2009
