Kirbie McShiz's first fringe show of 2012 doesn't quite go as well as hoped.
I found myself sat outside an upside down purple cow with a pint of Magners in one hand and a hog roast roll in the other while being partially melted by an outdoor heater and being repeatedly asked to sit on a cow with a random 21 year old student. The Fringe 2012 had begun!
I was out with friends and we had no plans as to what we were going to see. Out came the iPhone app and immediately we knew what was going on where and when. Our choice came down to watching naked hula hooping men or watching a female comedian. I was quite up for the hula hooping but as I was outnumbered by male company clearly not at one with their sexualities, we opted for the comedy – Eleanor Conway’s Midnight Rumble.
We joined the ‘queue’ of three people and waited patiently to get into the Wee Coo venue at the Underbelly. One of the other punters explained to us that she had met ‘the' Eleanor Conway in the toilets and that she was lovely and if we went and rounded up some other audience members they could get in for free. The idea of paying £18 for three tickets to then do free PR so randoms could get in for free was not one we jumped at—at all.
In we went to the very fringey (meaning apt for the Fringe) venue, The Wee Coo and waited for some comedy.
Conway came out looking confident and energetic, wearing a rather revealing boob tube dress and some very big hair. She certainly has the knack for having some warm banter with her audience and she had managed to create a great atmosphere almost instantly.
There were two guest comedians. The first came out and did a decent set as Conway watched on with a close to scary toothy grin, before being awkwardly chatted to by Conway while sitting on stools and resembling a scene from a low budget am-dram version of Jeremy Kyle.
The next comedian came on and got a room full of laughter, which was no mean feat with such a tiny audience. Rob Beckett was his name, and he is a comedian I would check out. He has a 6pm show.
So far so good. I was confused though as to what the ‘rumble’ was supposed to be and what Conway was trying to achieve with her structure. She had chosen a ring girl to hold up ‘round’ cards and also an audience member to take notes – neither of these jobs really seemed necessary and created a mildly disappointed vibe. But then she asked two guys to stuff their faces with marshmallows and speak at the same time. One poor guy nearly choked.
Next up was some audience participation. Conway asked an audience member to take his mobile out into the venue and find a sober person who had a good knock-knock joke. This was where things started to get much more awkward. The audience member went outside as Conway struggled to figure out how the audience would hear him. A mobile on loud speaker through a mic is not the best sound quality. That and for some reason the lighting person kept flashing the lights up and down for no reason. The audience member brought back a guy who was not very good at telling knock-knock jokes. This could have been brilliant if Conway had the comic skills to turn it into material, but it seemed like she didn’t.
It was clear that nerves set in towards the end. Technical difficulties, a lack of guests for her show and nervous whispering with one of her guests about what time it was unfortunately showed that Conway had lost her sparkle. She finished early and with no conclusion or real ending to the show. It was a real anti-climax.
This is the kind of show that will grow and develop each night, and I am sure that Conway has the (to use her overused word) ‘skills’ to pull it off after some practice. I will be back to check it out in a few weeks, and I’m sure she will have taken it to new heights.
If you have seen this show, please leave a comment.
Eleanor Conway’s Midnight Rumble is on at the Underbelly’s Wee Coo at midnight. Tickets are £6.
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