Fringe

When I was in Edinburgh for the Fringe, I saw more people from the RSAMD than I saw actual Edinburgh natives. I also bumped into people from various youth theatres I've been in, who were there to perform/tech/spectate depending on their age and inclinations.

Aside from the street performers, who get a little repetitious after a few years, we (myself, Maisie-from-TPA and an old highschool friend of the both of us) went to see a comedian called Bo Burnham, who started out as a Youtube phenomenon, writing funny songs and performing them on his Yamaha keyboard. I first heard of him in 2008, and when we (highschool friends and I) heard he was coming to Scotland we booked our tickets.

Live, he was slightly disappointing. The new material was good, but we wanted some of the classics too (where was "3.14 apple pie"??) and his stage demeanor was lacking. He seemed unhappy to be there. If that's true then he should get out of it and if it's an act then he should change it, because a paying audience doesn't like to feel that a performance is a massive trial for the object of their entertainment.

By contrast, the show we went to the next day (after an exciting trip into Edinburgh nightlife) featured a charismatic performer who, despite doing four shows a day, seemed to love it. His name is Baba Brinkman and I can't recommend his shows too highly. I've been a fan since I saw him in the secular Christmas show on the BBC in December doing The Rap Guide To Evolution. This year his new act is The Rap Guide To Human Nature, an exploration of the theory of evolutionary psychology through the medium of hiphop.

If that sounds grotesquely "down with the kids" then fear not. It's excellent hiphop in it's own right, with good beats and fantastic verbal inventiveness, and funny to boot. He makes fun of himself, his audience, liberals, conservatives, fundamentalists, anything not nailed down. And with all of this, he also discusses complex theories. He can also boast that his is the only peer reviewed comedy show at the Fringe, since he had a panel of scientists analyse and comment upon the script.

Anyway, Maisie and Ieft the show so thrilled we agreed to stay a little longer and go to the first of his evening shows, Rapconteur in Cabaret Voltaire, the seediest looking bar I think I've ever been in. Just, who designed that? Who thought one way glass for bathroom stalls was a cool idea?

Nevermind though, because the show was great. This one adapted some historic epics into rap form, including Gilgamesh, Beowulf and the Merchant's Tale from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

It was utterly engaging. Quick, funny, clever. The hour flew by.

So, if you want to go see something at the Fringe, it would be a very wise move to go for Baba Brinkman.



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