Edinburgh Fringe 2013
Phil Nichol: The Weary Land : 14.30
Phil Nichol
Genre: Spoken Word
Venue: Assembly Rooms
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
"Known for his high-energy, extroverted and somewhat childish stand-up comedy, award-winning actor and comedian Phil Nichol returns to the Fringe to read a sit-down funny story that takes the audience somewhere beautiful and heart-warming. Tired? Jaded? Fatigued? Take a one hour holiday to The Weary Land, in Phil Nichol’s comedic tale of falling in love, growing up and falling apart."
Review
If you’ve seen Phil Nichol perform a stand up act and you’ve Phil Nichol act you may have wondered if it’s actually the same person. Could the controlled well-honed character actor with the perfect diction be the same guy who the night before was a manic, sweat-covered screaming monster of a man? Can the well dressed dapper Canadian be that guy who was playing the guitar naked on a chair yesterday?
Well, this show explains everything.
The performance starts with the sound of sirens; we are in Afghanistan and Nicol’s life passes before his eyes in the form of a deflating balloon. Deftly and most of all amusingly, he guides us through his story. Tales of disputes about gym membership and broken then repaired relationships somehow combine into a tale of a broken and repaired member!
We travel from Scotland to London via Canada, from born again Christianity to philosophical peace via booze and drug abuse.
In an Edinburgh dominated by the absurd and surreal, this is a show performed by one man, sitting at a table telling a heartfelt autobiographical story.
Such is Nichol’s reputation he can afford to do this is a non-glamorous, non-commercial way – you won’t see the show advertised, you won’t have flyers shoved in your face, you have to depend on someone like me telling you about it so. .
Is the show performed well? Of course it is! Brilliantly!
Is it entertaining? Hell yeah!
