Musical Comedy - Pick of The Fringe
Published: Thursday 22nd August 2013
The Edinburgh Fringe provides a wide array of musical comedy; so what has it been like this year? The Musical Comedy Awards Showcase on the 23rd and 24th of August will provide a good overview of many of the festival's tuneful acts, but here's five musical shows playing at the Fringe this year that stood out for BCG writer Lucy Anna Gray this year...
Hosted by the Alex Horne, this popular musical show does not disappoint. The show consists of Horne and his fantastic band performing musical songs, with guest appearances from two different comedians every night. The Horne Section are big on audience participation which only adds to the hilarity of the show. This is one of the most successful music acts of the Fringe, and it isn't hard to see why.
For information and tickets on upcoming shows across the country go to www.thehornesection.com
Brothers Ed and Tommy Croft make up this fresh and lively musical double act. With Ed on guitar and both of them singing (and rapping at times) these two cover topics ranging from Pirates to Disney Princesses, keeping the audience in near constant fits of laughter. In 2011 they won the Musical Comedy Awards and two years on they are still pleasing crowds. Speaking with the boys, they revealed that they will be spending the next eleven months working on new, tighter material for their Edinburgh show in 2014, so keep an eye out!
For information and tickets on upcoming shows, go to www.jollyboat.co.uk
Another double act who have won The Musical Comedy Awards! After their win earlier this year Robin Hill and Theo Weedon have extended their show to an hour and taken it to Edinburgh as a part of the Laughing Horse Free Festival. With ludicrous songs and even more bizarre segues between them, Hill & Weedon provide an up-beat afternoon show that is proving a success.
For information on the duo visit www.hillandweedon.co.uk
As both a professional songwriter and a comedian, Rachel Parris is providing some of the best crafted music at the festival. Singing alone with a keyboard, Parris' light-hearted songs have been proving extremely popular. As a previous runner up of The Musical Comedy Awards, maybe it'll be her turn to claim first prize next year. Parris is also a part of one of the most talked about improv shows, Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, which has been so successful they have had to turn people away daily from their Fringe venue.
For information on both Parris' solo shows and Austentatious, go to www.rachelparris.wordpress.com
The highly esteemed David O'Doherty is back at the Edinburgh Fringe again, performing nightly sell-out shows. O'Doherty's show is interspersed with songs, rather than focusing on them... but, when he sits centre stage with his famous miniature keyboard, O'Doherty yet again proves it's possible to create incredibly popular songs that are both topical and seemingly random at the same time.
For DOD's upcoming gigs in Edinburgh and the rest of the UK, go to www.davidodoherty.com
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