2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Paul Foot review
"This is a most unusual evening" says Paul Foot, having already endured one stage invader only a few minutes into the show. Actually 'stage invader' is a little strong: Foot invited him up to perform an erotic dance and was surprised that he accepted, but it set the tone for a typically oddball hour in the company of a man - Foot, not the erotic dancer - who resembles a bizarre genetic crossbreed of Roxy Music-era Brian Eno and Dudley Moore, and performs exactly how such a curious creature should. A lot of odd ideas, punctuated by cheeky smiles.
His show this year is directed by Noel Fielding, which is a bit like getting Paul Gascoigne to run the England football team: there's not an obvious grasp of tactics or structure, and Foot freewheels happily for the first 20 minutes. These are the strongest moments, in truth, as he prances about the stage, gets into an argument with several audience members about a fairly complicated shirehorse-based equation then suspends the show altogether in order to conjure a scenario where a good head for percentages puts a man's life and relationship in jeopardy. It's mesmerising stuff.
His set-pieces, later on, elicit a lot less laughter but you have to admire the man's comic cojones, as an extraordinary routine involving a mid-show phone call takes audience participation into brave new realms, then a self-indulgent one-man play seems to go on for several hours. There are no whines or walk-outs though, as the enticing carrot of more erotic dancing had also been dangled, and he doesn't disappoint. You can't beat a few thrusts to end an evening.
Paul Foot: Ash In The Attic listing
