Issue #16 - Weekend 20th & 21st August - FREE

Wonder-Woman Kerry Godliman meets

» 2 for 1 Voucher: Vive Le Cabaret

» The End defends the stagedelete the Banjax

Pleasance box office is gearing up for a bumper weekend. Already boasting a crowd of sell-out shows, some of which have earned incredible accolades this week, Pleasance is sure to draw massive crowds this weekend. Five Scotsman Fringe First awards have gone to Pleasance shows. Analogue’s 2401 Objects, Blind Summit’s The Table, Icon Theatre’s Release, Curious Directive’s Your Last Breath and Hannah Eidinow’s An Instinct for Kindness have all picked up the prestigious accolade. The Stage have also honoured Pleasance talent with numerous nominations. Best Actor nominations go to Billy Mack for The Overcoat, Art Malik for Rose and Simon Merrells for Oedipus, while Shian Denovan picks up a Best Actress nomination for Snap. Catch. Slam. Two Best Ensemble nominations go to Made From Scratch for Body of Water and Theatre Ad Infinitum for Translunar Paradise. Sold, a play dealing with human trafficking, has been nominated for Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression award. If you’ve got your ticket for these, or for any of our sold-out shows, think yourself lucky. If not, why not relish the opportunity to explore Pleasance’s extensive and eclectic programme of fantastic shows? Take a chance, follow an inkling, try seeing something without checking a single newspaper review....

IS YOuR ShOWSOLD OuT?

PLEASAnCE hAS gOT SOmE SuggESTIOnS...WatchinG a ‘Best of’ shoW

Quickfire, bite-sized portions of some of the best Fringe acts, to help flesh out your festival diary. Try mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe, Chortle Presents: Fast Fringe, The Showcase Show or Vive Le Cabaret.

shoW Boards at Pleasance courtyard and domeTake a punt. Leave your show choice completely to chance, choosing the next show that’s on in either Pleasance Courtyard or Dome.

Pleasance comedy Podcast

Currently sitting proud in iTunes’ ‘Top Podcasts’ list, this free download features interviews, guest presenters and clips from Pleasance’s top comedy shows.

iPhone aPP - shaKe to searchYour phone does practically everything else, so why not let it decide your shows too? Simply shake your phone to throw up a show idea, complete with full details and booking info.

readinG the Pleasance times monday to saturdayPublished 6 days/week, this very publication will always be there for you as a source for show suggestions. Pick it up whenever you’re stuck for ideas.

chattinG to someBody aBout shoWs

Everyone who’s been at Pleasance for more than 60mins has a recommendation. Get chatting!

checKinG festival tWeetsOn twitter, look out for #plez11, #pleztimes, #edfringe and @thepleasance, then get following.

Kerry Godliman meets delete the BanjaxInterlinked interviews must first apologise for breaking its chain. Last issue’s interviewee, Matthew Osborn from Cul-De-Sac, became unavailable for interviewer-ship. Thankfully, Wonder-Woman Kerry Godliman willingly stepped in to restart proceedings by talking to sketch group Delete the Banjax.Kerry: What’s a banjax and why are you getting rid of it?Sam: That’s a long and unfortunately quite dull story.Kerry: hit me with the bullet points.Sam: We like the word ‘banjax’, meaning broken, rubbish, destroyed and incompetent.Caroline: That’s what we are!Sam: The show’s always a shambles. It’s sketches, songs, characters.Gareth: This year, with the help of our new director Matt Holt, we’ve moulded in a bit of structure. It’s definitely not themed – it’s specifically about nothing at all, which is what we try to push while flyering; “You’re not going to learn anything.”Kerry: Dear me, this sounds quite self-depricating!Dan: But hopefully our audiences should be laughing. No theme but lots of gags. Actually in a previous

show we used the structure of a telethon, which aimed to raise enough money to rid the world of monsters once and for all. (£100million.)Kerry: Sounds like a box ticked. Without themes, then, how else do you describe the show?Sam: High energy and fast paced. Nothing is too simple or too childish for us. There’s a little bit of Flight of the Conchords in there – we’ve got a few big musical numbers – and we often get compared with the energy of Pappy’s.Kerry: I tried a sketch show a few years ago and found it so hard that I was gagging to get back to stand-up. how do you write a show like yours?Gareth: It’s a bit of everything. Dan often thinks up the ideas, then we all take them away and write them, and pass them back and forth.Kerry: I’m very inspired by a thought of Woody Allen’s, that writers shouldn’t think of them as jokes, but rather as laughs. Suddenly anything goes. So you’ve been at Pleasance for two years, where were you before then?Gareth: We started on PBH’s Free Fringe. We loved it [everyone concurs enthusiastically]. It’s such

a fun and accessible way to bring a show here.Kerry: And it’s essentially risk free?Dan: It’s exactly risk free! We enjoyed 2008 a lot, but in 2009 we came back with a tighter show and ended up packing the venue.Sam: For starting up, having fun and honing your act, Free Fringe is ideal, but it can be frustrating as a career tool since the industry stigma keeps a majority of reviewers and promoters away. Our show now also features tech that Free Fringe couldn’t have provided.Kerry: Caroline, these three guys are like your comedy spouses. how do you cope? Do you ever want to switch into another group?Caroline: It’s actually pretty good! But if I had the chance, I’d love to get into Lady garden. Sam: Lady garden have a petition in progress to steal her, but we won’t let her go.Kerry: more companies should do swaps. Like a secondment. It should be in your contract.

Kerry Godliman: Wonder Woman, Pleasance Courtyard, 3-28 Aug

18:00 / Delete The Banjax, Pleasance Courtyard, 3-29 Aug 18:20

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@ThePleasance#pleztimes

RT @OxfordplayhouseToday is Orville Wright’s birthday! As a celebration, go an see The Wright Brothers - 1.30pm, Pleasance One #edfringe #pleasancetimes

RT @lordwoolamalooseriously enjoyed Casablanca at @ThePleasance today: part homage, part loving pastiche, wonderful stuff

RT @redliontheatres#edfringe @ShappiKhorsandi @ThePleasance @FollowTheCow Shappi Khorsandi literally amazing. Really hilarious and lovely shoe. Go immediately!

RT @ThePleasanceNot in the Fringe Guide, but on this Sat & Sun, Do The Right Thing - new podcast live. 12:30am @ThePleasance Dome http://t.co/hhEnRzP

Presented By one of our comedy acts and featurinG their sPecial Guests, includinG:Joe Lycett, Matthew Crosby from Pappy’s, Jeff Leach, Katherine Ryan, Tom Price, Dan Clark, Kate Copstick and a regular daily message from Angelos Epithemiou. friday Max & Ivan - Wrestling special episode

monday Imran Yusuf & Terry Alderton

in deFense oF... the staGe

I can’t defend performance any more because The End is my last show, my swan song, my resignation letter to theatre. This will be the last time I perform. This will be Ollie’s first time. We point out the Fire Exit signs and remind the audience they can leave. We ask what would happen if we left. Is it the end?

We talk about exits, stage exits and the stage direction ‘Exit pursued by a bear’. At The Globe, the audience would play cards on the edge of the stage. We imagine the man who was the bear in The Winter’s Tale, playing cards in the wings, waiting for his stage direction. The End questions notions of beginning and ending, why we perform and how we will know when to stop.

It marks the end of my career but it’s the first show of the day, so you might forget all about me after you’ve seen another show. But it doesn’t matter, because the next

day I’ll be performing to another audience, telling them it’s the last time I’ll perform, and the day after that, and the day after that…

And however long it takes, to get this over with.

The End, Pleasance Courtyard, 22-27 Aug 11:25

2for1COuPOn

ViVe Le CabaretRedeem On: Weekend 20&21 Aug 2011, 22:30Pleasance cOuRtyaRdthe show that led the cabaret revolution on the Fringe is even bigger and better than before breathing new life into Great british variety.

FUNDRAISING FOR THE PLEASANCEYou can support us in a number of ways:

2. Become part of “Pleasance History”We would be delighted if you joined our celebrity alumni on this extraordinary 231-ft long ‘Bayeux-esque Tapestry’, charting the history of the world according to the Pleasance. You will also receive a very beautiful portrait. All we need is a passport photo! And if you don’t have one immediately, it doesn’t matter, because you can always send it to us later!

3. Simply donate your own amountTEXT: plez33 to 70070(for any amount up to £10)

BY TELEPHONE: Please call us on 0207 619 6868

ONLINE: Please visit www.pleasance. co.uk/islington/support-us

IN PERSON: Complete the Gift Aid form on the back of the Fundraising leaflet and drop it into Reception at any of our box offices in Edinburgh and London, or pop it in the post.

1. Adopt a Pleasance cobblestoneFamous for its cobbled courtyards, the Pleasance is the bedrock of great theatre and comedy. You can look after these very foundations by adopting your own pet cobblestone! We promise to provide you with regular updates on how it’s getting along.

saturday 20th

Please note that all line-ups are subject to change. Check the Box Office for the latest information.

after hoursPleasance Dome 00:40

ZOE LYONSTERRY ALDERTON

JIMMY MCGHIEROB BECKETTDAvID WARD

amused moose comedy aWard shoWcase

Pleasance Dome 16:00LORETTA MAINE

ROB BECKETTBRETT GOLDSTEIN

KISHORE NAYARTOMMY ROWTON

GER DEvINE

arthur smith’s Pissed-uP chat shoW

Pleasance Dome 21:40SuSAN MuRRAY

SIMON MuNNERYRICHARD SHELTON

chortle Presents: fast frinGe

Pleasance Dome 18:40SuSAN CALMAN - MC

GARETH RICHARDSNATHAN CATON

ZOE LYONSMOONFISH RHuMBA

JOE BORTOBIAS PERSSON

CAREY MARXJAMES REDMONDDIANE SPENCER

HANNIBAL BuRESSSAMMY J

nicholas Parsons’ haPPy hour

Pleasance Courtyard 14:30Fred MacAulay

Bob DowneSoweto Entcha

roB deerinG’s Beat thisPleasance Courtyard 23:00

SuZY BENNETTMICK FERRYANDI OSHO

TIM vINE

storytellers’ cluBPleasance Courtyard 22:00“O, CRuEL CHILDHOOD”:

JOSIE LONGJO NEARY

JOHN ROBINSSARAH REuBEN

SARAH BENNETTOJAMES DOWDESWELL

the shoWcase shoWPleasance Courtyard 13:10

Mc MARKuS BIRDMAN, HANNAH GADSBY, MARK SIMMONS, JESS

FOSTESKEW, TOM STADE

vive le caBaretPleasance Courtyard 22:30

DES O’CONNOREAST END CABARET

NICK HELMANGIE MACK

JOHNNY ELECTROLuXHuSTLE

MAT RICARDOKITSCH KATS

GYPSY CHARMS AND vIvA MISADvENTuRE

extra shoW: do the riGht thinG comedy QuiZ shoWPleasance Dome 00:30

DAvID REED & MICHAEL LEGGEvS

SCOTT CAPuRRO & MARGARET CABOuRN-SMITH

HOST: DANIELLE WARD