Regular visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe will know of the omnipresent, inflatable, upside down purple cow known as the Udderbelly that takes annual and popular residence in Bristo Square. In summer 2009, this remarkable 400-capacity venue arrives for its inaugural stint on the Southbank - the E4 Udderbelly Southbank festival

The bovine structure - as it is descriptively referred to in the venue's press release - will be situated next to the Royal Festival Hall and opposite the London Eye. Some 49 shows ranging from one-night-only to one-month runs have been lined up. It runs for seven weeks, with a very strong selection of big-name comedians, together with music and cabaret events and an extensive range of children's and family shows. Cow owners The Underbelly, in conjunction with the Southbank Centre and with E4 as sponsors, offer Londoners who can't - or won't - make the journey north in August an authentic taste of one of the Edinburgh Fringe's most iconic and well-loved venues. As in Edinburgh, there will be an outside bar area and food stalls, so let's hope for a long hot summer - as recently promised by the Met Office.

It is centrally located, five minutes' walk from Waterloo mainline train station. It's five minutes from the Northern Line, District and Circle Lines at Embankment and Bakerloo at Charing Cross; and near to the District and Jubilee lines at Westminster. That makes it easy for most London residents to get to the venue, though some late-night events may mean becoming familiar with the delights of London's night buses. To be fair they have become much more frequent over the last few years, better-used, and less of a danger zone than they used to be. Useful links include:

• www.nationalrail.co.uk - timetable of Britain's National Rail network
• www.tfl.gov.uk - Information on all forms of public transport in London, routes, maps, journey planner and online tickets sales, including night buses.
• www.underbelly.co.uk/webpages/southbank/index.php - The Underbelly's Southbank portal with synopses of all the shows - and ticket sales.
• www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/e4-udderbelly - tickets can also be bought here.
• www.southbankcentre.co.uk/assets/wysiwyg/pdf/udderbelly_map.pdf - The Southbank Centre's own website which also contains an Udderbelly map with directions to and from the venue from the main train and tube stations.

I've picked 10 shows out of that 49 list - my recommendations:

1. Joan Rivers - Unplugged and Uncensored. 27 May (21:00), 28 May, 29 May (19:00 and 21:00). Gay icon, plastic surgery pioneer and QVC jewellery designer, the festival's opening act. At Edinburgh Fringe 2008 in an overheated and under-ventilated cave approaching midnight, she kept people waiting for ages and the organisers had to hand out fans to stop her audience passing out before she got there - but she was worth the wait. She's a genuine legend, an electrifying stage presence, an extraordinarily-constructed face and an even more extraordinary way with a withering put-down, especially toward the rich and famous American celebrities who arouse her displeasure.
2. Tom Tom Crew 19 June–19 July, various times. A festival residency for the Australian troupe of extreme acrobats, beat boxer, drummer and record scratcher who have wowed the Edinburgh and Brighton festivals and have just finished a Broadway run. Innovative, exciting and suitable for all the family, the Tom Tom Crew have a punishing schedule of matinee and evening performance during their 4 week run, so there is plenty of opportunity to catch them.
3. Rhod Gilbert 10 July (21:00). Some people felt in 2008 that it was frontrunner Rhod Gilbert and not eventual recipient David O'Doherty who should have won the main prize at the if.comedy awards at the Edinburgh Fringe - such was the buzz around his show Rhod Gilbert And The Award Winning Mince Pie. Rhod Gilbert has since picked up Chortle, Time Out and South Bank show awards so he's probably not bothered. If you like your comedy deadpan with a neat line in exasperation, then you wont get much better than Rhod Gilbert.
4. Private Peaceful 10 July (15:00) 11 July, 12 July (17:00). Based on the children's book by former Children's Laureate Thomas Morpurgo, the play tells the moving story of Private Tommo Peaceful, a soldier awaiting death by firing squad during World War 1 (1914-18). He remembers his growing up, his family, and the circumstances that brought him from agricultural labourer in Devon to the brink of death. Ages 8+.
5. Reginald D Hunter - No Country for Grown Men 11-12 July (21:00). Was there a more bizarre hairstyle on display than the girlie short plaits that Reginald D Hunter sported during Edinburgh Fringe 2008? And Reginald D Hunter still manages to be all man. He has a way of confronting uncomfortable stereotyping, of race and of sex, which can leave people uneasy. Not for the easily offended but it's a tribute to his comedy skills that it's all done with an effortlessly-relaxed and engaging stage presence. This show addresses the notion that society has infantilised men.
6. Mitch Benn and the Distractions 4 June (19:00). Some would say the best comedian on The Now Show, Radio 4's long-running answer to the Daily Show. Mitch Benn's clever ability to turn around topical and satirical ditties about the events of the day make it always worth tuning into. He appears at Udderbelly with his accomplished band The Distractions. Comedy and Music for the price of one.
7. Camille O Sullivan & Friends – The Cat's Meow 27 June (21:00). This cabaret performer delivers gifted interpretations of Jacques Brel, Nick Cave, Kurt Weill and the Tiger Lillies among a host of great songwriters. It's not an exaggeration to say that she was one of THE hot tickets at Edinburgh Fringe 2008, and deservedly so. She has an ability of seeming to live in the moment of each song - mesmerising. It looks physically exhausting, but it's a memorable experience. Quite frankly, anyone who continues to keep alive the Jacques Brel songwriting genius in such a captivating manner is OK in my book. She comperes this show which promises music, circus and theatre, but no further details are available at the time of writing.
8. The Best of the Comedy Store various dates (22:45). It's The Comedy Store's 30th Birthday in 2009, and the birthplace of alternative comedy celebrates with a few nights at this festival. It's still considered a right of passage for every comedian to play The Comedy Store, though it may no longer have the innovative edge it once had. Given that the Alexei Sayle, Eddie Izzard, French and Saunders, Jerry Sadowitz, Jo Brand and countless other great comedians (and Ben Elton) got their breaks at the Store, the acts on the bill should be top notch. However, no details were available at the time of writing.
9. Paul Sinha 3 July (21:00). Part of the Stand Up With Pride part of the festival. Ex-GP and articulate wit Paul Sinha is a likeable and talkative comedian who wins his audience over with a combination of tackling big topics in an engaging and inclusive manner interspersed with smart, clever gags. His Bengali upbringing and his sexuality form part of his act and he's the opposite of angst ridden. He cheers you up. Which is perhaps what comedy should do.
10. Tina C – Complete and Utter Country 26 June (21:00). I'm a not-so-closet country music fan. I used to run the Country Music section at Tower Records in the mid- to late- 1990s and let me tell you, there's never been a job before or since that I enjoyed so much. There's as much camp in Country as there is at a Joan Rivers gig – emotion, heartache, morbid lyrics, the outfits and the fiddles. I didn't see Tina C at Edinburgh 2008 but I intend to make up for it at Southbank.

END

(c) Ruth Morris 21 May 2009.

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

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