Here the latest reviews of Morecambe Fringe Festival acts

Comedy

Tom Little

Instantaneously you are greeted with a burst of stage energy and charisma which is Tom Little. If you’re looking for laughs then you’ve come to the right guy. Mr. Little has fantastic stage presence, hilarious commentary and highly relatable content which will have you in stitches from beginning to end.

If you too “would rather inhale faecal matter than engage eye contact with a stranger”, then Tom Little’s setup is just what you’re after. I would highly recommend watching, especially on T.V- someone put this man on the air already!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Reviewer: Morgan Logan

Lear’s Fool, written and performed by John Slater, is a witty, intelligent and moving account of Shakespeare’s King Lear from the perspective of the Fool. Slater as Fool bumbles on tothe stage crowned with flowers – like his offstage master - and engages the live audience with some deft comedy, helped by his marionette. Slater emulates the wit of Robert Armin (the actor who originally played the Fool), by opening up sharp questions about the ‘vanity’ of Shakespeare’s characters and contemporary public figures.Slater’s warm-hearted, northern Fool gives a sharp critique of the self-interests of Goneril, Regan, Burgundy and of Lear’s own attempt to commodify love, which ‘our Cordelia’ and the ‘typically romantic’ King of France reject. The Fool’s judgement is even-handed: he notes Goneril’s harsh response to Lear’s knights, but also wryly observes they ‘were rum ones’: out of order in their drinking and wenching.

Ultimately, what Slater’s performance brings out most powerfully is the love the Fool has for his master, ‘God bless him’. Gestures to the off-stage Lear, who has already gone mad and is making daisy chains, vividly invoke a vulnerable old man. Such is the intimacy of their bond that the Fool too appeared to be losing his wits. John Slater’s talents allow him to juggle all these aspects of the Fool, to create a poignant ending to the performance where the fragility of the future for Lear and the Fool, and more widely of comedy and compassion, becomes tangible. Highly recommend!Rating: 4/5

Reviewer: Alison Findlay

Fatal Attraction

Musical Comedy

Chalk'n'Cheeze

Allan Gray aka “Gordon Zola” and Eve Nortley together as “Chalk & Cheeze” performed a musical comedy. Allan a lyrically rhythmic Salford poet and Eve a Brummie Bard known for her racy poetry are no strangers to the spoken word scene. Tonight’s cornucopia of mirth and madness ranged from operatic mayhem to “the pensioners rap” including a tribute to Victoria Wood in a raunchy “Tesco Express Blues”. The show sprinkled with political satire had the audience singing and clapping along creating sixty minutes of fun.