Edinburgh Fringe Part 2 (+ the EIFF begins)

The Edinburgh International Film Festival kicks off tonight with the premiere of THE FLYING SCOTSMAN. I'm not going to that, which is just as well since it started about an hour ago, but I will be going to a lot of films (and I mean a lot) at the fest over the next couple of weeks.

The only problem with this is that I'll be seeing so many of them that I won't have a great deal of time to actually write about them. So, for the next two weeks, I don't know what will happen. Either I'll be writing updates almost every day with the various movies I've seen or else I won't have the time and you'll just get one or two great big updates all at once. I guess we won't find out until I start watching them all!

In the meantime, here's a quick round up of the other Fringe shows I've seen since my last update...

THE UNBOOKABLES

Two hours of stand-up from the likes of Doug Stanhope, Jim Jeffries and a few other guys that I've forgotten the name of (I am sorry, but I don't watch comedy very often), concentrating on all the material they can't do elsewhere. Think of any subject you don't want to hear jokes about and the chances are it'll be mocked in this show. Hilarious, but only for those of you who don't get offended too easily.

ANDY PARSONS: INTERNATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP MOANING

Comedian Parsons has invented a sport that, finally, the British can dominate in. An hour of extremely funny material culminates in a moan-off between two members of the audience. Superb.

CARBON FEVER

It's the end of the world (yep, armageddon) and two young blokes on a stag night find themselves trapped in an off licence. Sounds okay at first but then the madness takes hold. Lively and funny, and performed solidly by just three young actors.

VHS: DEATH TO DVD

Rich owns a video shop but refuses to stock DVD, determined to illustrate why VHS is better. Everyone he comes into contact with feels the benefit of his expertise in a series of humourous observations on movies. Think something along the lines of CLERKS but even more movie-centred. You have to be a geek of the highest order to get every joke, but if you're a movie lover you'll definitely enjoy it.

STAR TRIP

Spanish group Yllana spoof the worlds of science fiction without the aid of dialogue. Parts of it are very funny, parts of it extremely clever (I've never seen a stage show with so many special effects) and parts of it are, well, a little bit rubbish (crude slapstick mainly). Worth a look though.

FAHRENHEIT 451

I had to check out this production by the Godlight Theatre Company as Ray Bradbury is my favourite author. The original story is powerful, stirring and as relevant today as it ever has been and thankfully this production does it justice. The cast are uniformly excellent and, although a couple of scenes may be a little rushed for people who aren't familiar with the story, they do a good job of getting it down to an hour and a quarter.