More Edinburgh Reviews!

*      (1 star out of five)
Forth Restaurant – top floor of Harvey Nichols

Even giving this place one star is a stretch and the only reason I am doing it is because they have an exquisite collection of Alexander Mcqueen and Vivienne Westwood merchandise, but that’s not even part of the restaurant so it doesn’t count. You do see the good stuff on the way up and so I guess the star is somewhat justified. We got there at 3pm, which should be the right time for tea, but the high tea has to be ordered 24 hours in advance, and so you can’t get it unless you pre-order. This is really disappointing. The food they had at that hour was very limited, and my friends and I managed to cobble together a meal, but I sent back my Chicken Caesar Salad which was really disgusting and seemed to have been put together out of items from the garbage. The bill was hugely expensive (my friend paid, thank god) and the service was intrusive – the waitress recognized us all but didn’t know what from or why and so demanded our credits at the table which I found really obnoxious and they didn’t take the salad off the bill even though I sent it back to the kitchen. Gross place, but nice shopping underneath.

*****(five stars out of five)
Andrew Doyle’s Crash Course in Depravity
Just the Tonic at the Store – 6:20pm every day

I went to see this show because my friend Scott Capurro directed it and I just met Andrew who is very nice and also extremely handsome. I was really blown away by his writing and the skill of his delivery. It’s a study in what makes us depraved, the extreme nature of desire and how we will do things in the heat of the moment- driven by passion and lust – that we wouldn’t normally do. I think that’s such a provocative subject especially here – in the UK, where restraint is the name of the game.  I loved the show and I really love Andrew. I think that you will be hearing from him a lot from now on!

*****(five stars out of five)
Hal Sparks – Evolution Overdrive
10:45pm at the Gilded Balloon

My good friend Hal Sparks is here at the fringe hot off the heels of his last big tour and DVD Charmaggedon and I am frankly amazed at the turnaround. Usually it takes a comic years to write and craft this kind of material – heavily observational, super smart, lightning fast – and I was watching him develop his last show just a few months ago. I was really surprised that he has written another great hour so quickly. It’s enviable and really pretty miraculous. Here’s a show all about humanity, where we are going – a bleak but hilarious view of the future. This is a must see for anyone here at the festival – and tickets are going fast. I barely got in myself!

2 thoughts on “More Edinburgh Reviews!

  1. Margaret, if you’re still in Edinburgh and you have time, try to hunt out Canadian lesbian comedian DeAnne Smith, who is doing shows there right now. I’ve seen her several times and I bet you’ll really enjoy her.

  2. *Heroism*-My dearest Cho, you are one of my heroes….and I’m Black! Thank you for your fearless campaign against racist ideology. You are a true activist!:))

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