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Edinburgh Fringe 2016

Playing Politics

Playing Politics

Genre: Comedy, Live Music, Political

Venue: Acoustic Music @ St Brides, 10 Orwell Terrace

Festival:


Low Down

New lyrics to old tunes as Scotland’s political parody specialists lampoon the lampoonable with just about everything and everyone in the political establishment in their sights.

 

Review

By day, two ordinary people, one a journalist, the other a senior figure in Scotland’s voluntary sector. By night, two extraordinarily gifted entertainers.

Back for their umpteenth appearance at the Fringe, Vic Rodrick and Annie Gunner Logan delivered an amusing evening of musical comedy at the Acoustic Music Centre down at St Bride’s Kirk, packed to the gargoyles with locals up for a night of sharp satire. And the Scots love of playing politics is matched by Playing Politics’ love of lampooning just about everyone and everything in this arena ripe for their clearly much loved cutting parody.

A week is a long time in politics, as they say, but over the last twelve months anything standing still for five minutes has been something of a rarity. We’ve had that “big” vote and the debate has already started about the next “big” decision and when that is going to be offered to a Scottish people that voted so overwhelmingly not to Brexit. We’ve had more UK political leadership elections than you could have thrown a stick at and there’s still a long way to go in the US as Trump and Clinton continue to spar. And where would we be without the Greeks and their debt pile to mock?

The secret of Playing Politics’ success is that they’ve an encyclopedic knowledge of tunes that might be susceptible to adaptation for parodying purposes. And they’ve an acute sense of the couplet will raise a smile, and that which will provoke a cry of laughter and spontaneous applause from the audience. Some of their ideas they’ve developed into full blown songs, others run for just a verse. And if this year’s effort had the look and feel that it was pulled together at the last minute, it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the evening. It was, I suppose, like the extended version of HIGNFY that the BBC airs each week – the one with the bloopers in it – which is often funnier than the polished, shorter version.

Thoroughly recommended for anyone with the slightest interest in poking fun at those in authority but there are just two more shows on 19th and 26th August.

 

Published