@biblejohnplay 3:50pm Monday - last show @thepleasance *****

Charlie Harthill Special Reserve award winning play gets to give it all all back to the Scottish audience that has supported it through its run today.

As the bank holiday traffic heads south it'll be left to the locals to fill the seats this afternoon as the regularly sold out run comes to an end.

For a new piece of work to sell out over half it's run based largely on word of mouth. is quite simply phenomenal.

Having seen it twice now its no surprise.


This inventive vibrant play has caught the public's imagination with comedic charm and serious purpose.

Social media has transformed our lives and our likes. Podcasts and crime fascination have turned us into voyeurs.

We're gently woken from our daily life dozing in the first half hour and by the end of the play we're wide awake, words charmingly smacking sense after sense.

Great writing, direction, audience engagenent and action packed acting sees this play right up there in the fringe events I've ever seen.

The performances from each of the cast are quite incredible, they interact and are gregariously generous with their support of their fellow actors aware that what makes the performance is as much about what you do off camera as on it.

Props dance elegantly across the stage as the actors dance diligently around them, at times its simply mesmerising.

Do yourself a favour and enjoy this 5 star play too!

This play is the new sound of young Scotland.

3:50pm at the pleasance above

Enjoy your last day with your sunny fringe!

Vinny Bee

Issue #14

Issue 14 was an inspiration to many on the local Scottish scene

On the inside pages Groucho records displayed some of their favourite badges. Anarchy in Glamis took these sex pistols to the dum dum boys while "Colin and the ants' still resonates....

You did a brexit eh?

As sales of freezers go through the roof this summer I was queuing to get into one of my favourite late night spots last night when I got chatting to my fellow queue member.

He'd been in the club but had left at 11.30pm to find somewhere better, only to return an hour later and £35 poorer having realised this was quite a good club after all. I told him my Brexit pontoon gag and asked who twists on 18, following it up with who brings a knife to a gun fight.

My queue member was from Texas and he was advising me that there is nowhere near the level of knife crime in the states that we seem to experience here. I explained police officers in the states kill more civilians than knives do in the UK, that the victims of these random crimes are where our concern should lie, but to be fair its late and its probably better to save this conversation for another day.

That's when I remembered how well freezers were selling. It seemed the perfect time to talk about how Iceland's business model was proving very robust as we tumble towards October. He said that the President was going to buy Greenland, to which I replied Iceland would give him a good foothold in Europe.

At that moment I got into the venue and smiled a fond farewell, ah the Festival!

#edinburghfestivalfringe

Performers know this but it's one of the darkest secrets of the festival.

Financially you rarely break even and Edinburgh excites your brain whilst stealing your soul, oh, and your money. Whether it's accomodation, coffee house or purveyor of alcohol, you'll be greeted by high prices and petty crime. You're in an untrained workplace where the majority of the helpful people in front of you have no intention of having a long term career in hospitality. You'll think 'thank fuck', but then part with the statement  internally, 'aye, it's the fringe'.

The circus comes to town and the performers perform, while the local wannabees make up the chorus, the bars and the restaurants. The time for hygeine training is somewhere between wiping your arse and picking your nose, but definitely after your tattoo had dried.

At a time when the UK has rules on the 17 years and younger you wonder why a couple of days can make such a difference. Clearly I did.

I had a great day in the sun as I soaked in the sounds, the carnival ambience but against this background what stuck in the craw was flyers being handed to us at the table and the same voice sweeping them into a black bin liner. As the afternoon wore on all I heard was "Can I leave a flyer,", "Can I take this flyer", I explained that those taking the flyers away were only encouraging more to arrive and that by leaving a pile on the table it would clearly attract more but at least the same one wouldn't be dropped numerous times.

Whenever I was joined at the table by patrons of the fringe, I would ask them if they'd like a drink, a precursor to watch my beach towel and seat, and I'd quickly buy a drink. I say quickly but there are few bat staff working the counters as few have worked in the trade before. There are very few people who know how to change a barrel never mind operate the till, or calculate change. The problem isn't that they're particularly inept, more that there are few resources available to train them. Every year poor bar staff are left without change as the managers hope that everyone will bring the right money and the unfortunate bar person isnt hit with £20 notes for their first 5 rounds. Contactless helps this but putting signs up saying card till only are quite simply statements of "Fuck you customer". They're like betting shops hoping if you go contactless you'll not notice your spend until its too late.

Ryanair are often pilloried for their treatment of passengers as they herd them into lines 30 minutes before the flight is ready for boarding, charge them for the privilege of using the plane and yet many venues make Michael O'Leary look like he cares deeply about the customer experience. Has anyone every been advised what to do in the event of a fire alarm sounding, where the exit is, where the muster point is? Never mind the audience lets just hope the performers and staff have been trained. Its another of Edinburgh's quiet disgraces and I hope it never manifests as we'd never recover from it.

There's a certain amount of car crash that comes with the month of August in Edinburgh and its not always on the stage. The streets froth with people thinking that the city is one big pedestrian zone, cyclists think they can still zip up the inside of cars and buses, crashing lights with impunity and shouting at pedestrians crossing the road for entering a cycle lane. I say the latter as I watched an altercation between a pedestrian and a cyclist on the middle meadow walkway. A walkway that is split in two for bikes and people, yet there are always 300 people for every bike. I wanted to heckle with, should the pram be in the cycle lane, but I could tell the cyclist was already miffed at slowing from 35mph down the hill to accomodate the itinerant pedestrian overtaking said pram.

Ah the Fringe, we love it, but visitors bring their own believe system and Lance Armstrong certainly didn't know we had a speed limit in Edinburgh of 20mph but he did think pedestrians weren't allowed in cycle lanes, ha ha, of course they are, this is Edinburgh where Pedestrians Rool ya bass!

TBC

Issue 4 in colour

Sold out shows

The latest arrivals to have sold out shows @thepleasance includes @biblejohnplay as reported here only a week ago. Well done on such an inventive play. Tickets are still available for midweek shows but be quick for the weekend shows as it may be returns only soon. Get along if you can and enjoy the show before a pre theatre meal at 3:50pm daily.

@thepleasance sold out boards

Yes we tipped it and you backed it!

Bert Jansch - living in the shadows

As seen in the Record Shak window in Edinburgh one of the first places to sell Deadbeat - looks like the only one in stock.

I remember a life support song living in the shadows from 1982 but that's another story.

Festival flyers

Flyers are a wonderful part of @edfringe and here's some to enjoy - pop along this sunny / rainy August evening see funny woman Alice Snedden then  listen to Ruby in the Rough @thepleasance then send back a review!

I remember going along to see our exports to Europe, the Clash at the Mogador in Paris in September 1981 - sadly before Emile Elisa Lucas and Victoria were born - nice to see the French returning the favour!

Hot hot ticket!

As the Geordies say a Rollercoaster

I'm still in shock

What a journey these 4 actors have taken us on. An exploration of a culture I've completely missed and an empathetic recognition of the salient aspects of a cold case.

Froth, bubble and a battering of the senses as well as sensibilities.

These performers deserve all the praise they'll get.

Well done!

Five star fringe @thepleasance 3.50pm daily