David Baddiel
Mercifully the weather was clement on our opening Festival day and Tony and I travelled through to Edinburgh in good spirits. Alan and his girlfriend were already in the capital so we would meet up with them later in the evening for our first show of the Festival. After some dinner in Princess Street Mall we were faced with the unenviable task of finding the Assembly George Square without our human SatNav (Alan). Surprisingly we arrived at our destination without much ado and even had time to sneak in a cheeky pint at The Gilded Balloon. We were only a few hundred yards from the Assembly George Square and so we met up with Alan and Hannah in the queue for our first show, David Baddiel's Fame: Not The Musical. But alas due to 'technical difficulties' we were standing in the line for about 40 minutes. 'Technical difficulties' could genuinely be technical difficulties or it could be the standard excuse for many different situations, like when Axel Rose of Guns 'N Roses refused to go on stage until his hamburger was cooked to his liking. To give David Baddiel his due, he seemed genuinely apologetic for the delay when he arrived onstage but for the four of us it meant that we had to leave his show early to get to the Greg Proops venue on time. With the benefit of hindsight or the acquisition of a time machine I would have stayed for the whole David Baddiel show, which was funny and interesting, and given Greg Proops a miss. Baddiel's first stand up show for many a year dwelt on the phenomena of fame and what it is really like. He gave some interesting insights, often in the form of humorous anecdotes, and I found him an engaging and sharp character. Proops was a disappointment - he stretched some unfunny jokes out far too long and failed to connect with his audience. He seemed a bit awkward at times in his delivery and stage persona that in turn made me feel awkward. He is certainly a smart guy, but I don't think he is a natural stand up comedian. Maybe he would make a better dinner companion. So we left the Debating Hall at the Gilded Balloon Teviot wishing Proops had had the technical difficulties and not Baddiel. We consoled ourselves with a few pints, drinking somewhere in the George Square complex until it was time for Rich Hall's Hoedown at the Spiegeltent Palazzo. I was really looking forward to this. And he didn't disappoint. He had assembled a good trio of musicians (drums, bass, lead guitar) with himself on acoustic rhythm guitar and keyboard. His songs were a mixture of country and blues, his cowboy hat sort of gave it away, and the music was actually very good. His lyrics were inventive and clever and funny, and he enjoyed some banter with the crowd in between songs. It was a fun, enjoyable show and it might prove to be the highlight of the Festival already but we shall see.
Rich Hall
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