THIS Show Belongs To Lionel Richie's guerrilla stickering campaign, targeting almost every inanimate object in Edinburgh, is one of the most visible publicity tricks on the Fringe. But what's it all about? Standing in the busy main concourse at Waver
ley station, casually brushing your teeth like a crazy person, it turns out.
Or at least in part: Comedy Mob is a kind of mass, audience-interactive Trigger Happy TV-style sketch, one of five TSBTLR shows this Fringe (the two not covered here are last week's stand-up performance at the top of Arthur's Seat and Dial A Sketch – a comedy routine delivered to you on request). Other participants – following earlier instructions by TSBTLR creators Barry Ferns and Chris Head in a shifty liaison below the Scott Monument – are dotted around subtly scrubbing their gnashers for one minute too, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. It's a bizarre spectacle, drawing bemused double-takes from passing commuters.
A sketch show follows later in the afternoon, showcasing the work of an eight-strong writing/performing team. The set-pieces are slickly delivered, but groan towards tame and sometimes glaringly obvious punchlines – even prehistoric man must surely have played around with some variation on the one about a woman diagnosed as "clinically ugly" being prescribed a paper bag.
The evening stand-up show features Tom Goodliffe, Darren Kisner and Joseph Baker. All are endearing chaps, but their sets are rushed and their material fairly unremarkable (Baker does deliver one beauty about Stephen Hawking spearing a heckler at a lecture). It's a Free Fringe show though, and with some spirited compéring from Ferns, a crackling atmosphere is whipped up among a boozy Friday night crowd, two of whom get to compete pretty hilariously in "future Olympic sport" TME (Tape Measure Extension) for a Cliff Richard video.
The TSBTLR crew aren't breaking any new ground, but there's no doubting their intentions are spot-on, and with the Edinburgh Comedy Festival busy amassing the combined power of the Fringe's biggest comics, such collectives are surely the counterbalance the festival needs.
• This Show Belongs To Lionel Richie No 1: Sketch Show until 24 August, today 3:45pm
• This Show Belongs To Lionel Richie No 2: Stand-Up until 24 August, today 6:50pm
• This Show Belongs To Lionel Richie No 5: Comedy Mob, last show tomorrow, 2pm
The full article contains 446 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
