60 shows?!?! I mean, it's wonderful and amazing and I'm thrilled you had a great time, but...should I be worried? How much Red Bull did you drink? Is an intervention called for here? Put on your warm jammies and get some rest, honey. Love - Mom. ;-)
So jealous by how many you managed to see! We managed 15 in 3 days. For me the highlights were: - Come dine with me the musical: but I wish there was more spoken dialogue, I imagine there would be more if they went to a full show time, also dissapointed by the lack of the 'what a sad little life jane' reference which felt well set up. - Barbara (and Kenneth): Deanna was incredible! - Traditional Scottish Tales: spoken word show at the Scottish Storyteling Centre, it was intimate and cozy and lovely. - I wish you well: sadly the only gwyneth musical I could see but hoping to see the other in Manchester soon. -Luke Rollason: Silly physical comedy show, really silly fun. Dissapointments for me were: - Sycamore grove: really well acted but more of a psychological thriller than scary as advertised. - The Mosinee project: It just didn't feel satisfying for some reason? - The NPC musical: I'm sure the 4 non paying (at least at our show) players with headsets had fun but the interactive portion for the audience was really limited. The storyline just wasn't there. It felt like they shoehorned in suicide awareness at the end but it felt too late in the game (pun intended ;)). These are all just my opinions, sharing here in case anyone saw the same shows and thought similarly/differently and wants to discuss in the replies. Thank you for this video and for your video in the run-up to the fringe!
The 60 second timer was genius, that hour just flew by! And it was only until #46 that I realised you're wearing a colour lipstick that matches your hoodie 💋
Half Man Half Bull was my absolute favourite thing I saw. Felt so ancient in its simplicity, but modern at the same time. The anachronistic elements completely broke my heart during the ending of Theseus, and how Icarus's death is conveyed. 💔
"there was a lot of, um, earnest charisma is their performance" - you have a kind word for everyone ;) You've got me trained so well, I've just watched this hour-long video detailing shows I'll never see because I was excited as the thought of Mickey Jo flexing his memory, critical faculties and vocal cords in a race against the clock. An hour well spent.
Your vlogs and reviews have inspired me to plan a fringe trip myself for next year! I’ve really enjoyed them. (Also I don’t know how you managed this, my anxiety increased with each alarm and I wasn’t even the one being timed 😂)
Hi, thank you so much for all your Fringe videos. They were soooo helpful for me 😀 This year, I even had the opportunity of briefly meeting you there... (Aaron and you were the sweetest). More Fringe content next year, please... 😀
I must suggest watching anything by the “Ugly Bucket Theatre Company”, a clowning comedy physical verbatim theatre company. 2 years ago they did “good grief” a play about all sorts of grief and this year they did “Stuffed” a play about food banks using verbatim and wacky comedy but it still hits the emotional beats throughout. Must must must go and see any show they do 😀
2:03 there are many real life disaster events like Willy’s that would make for great dark comedy plays and musicals and this is not one of them. I actually am working on a script for a stage play based on the real behind the scenes turmoil of the filming of a movie based on a popular video game franchise (not gonna say cause I don’t want my idea stolen lolz)
Only mamaged to get there for one day yesteray but saw 2 shows First show was Hoarderz by Gritty Gaze, now I'm biased and know them personally as I went to uni with them and we all graduated this year! They're really talented, it's the first show and it's only on for another 2 days but it's definitely worth watching, they did an amazing job. They're Liverpool based and their shows reflect that, also really good if you like a dystopia. Second show was Solve It Squad by Tin Can Bros, my brother wanted to see them really bad and they did not disappoint us, couldn't stop laughing, genuinely had an amazing time at that one, I do love a parody though. 🤣
I really hope the creators of these shows watch this, because there are SO many constructive notes. I love that despite the hard time limit, you never appear to rush and give each show due consideration. Did you ever get "theatered out" with so many shows back to back to back?
Thanks so much for your Edinburgh reviews, Mickey. I agree with a lot of your Top 10 - Half Man/Half Bull and Diva: Live from Hell especially. Best show I saw that you didn't see was 'Or What's Left of Us' by Sh!t Theatre, another very powerful piece on grief, expressed through folk music, rituals and healing through community.
Yayyy I’m so glad diary of a gay disaster got rated highly :) and pop off Michelangelo!!! I’m so glad Edit: I watched titswingers as a workshop in London in February and I really liked it, I personally would give it four stars. But it does need development, if I recall correctly the first draft was only finished in January of this year Another edit: I watched every brilliant thing when they did a performance at my school earlier this year before the fringe!! It was really great!! I’m lucky I got to watch it!!!!
I loved Tit Swingers. I probably would have given it four stars. However, nothing you said about it is wrong. It's worth developing. Also the music was just a tad too loud for the singing. Not overly so, I could hear the lyrics but I could definitely have heard them better. I saw 15 shows in 3 days. Almost everything was great. My highlights were: Frankenstein on a Budget; Summoning Sondheim; and Lobster Bisque. I didn't see them this year because I had seen the shows in previous years but Box Tale Soup are a great theatre company. Particularly Gulliver. Typically they never tour near me.
Hm just bought my ticket for Jaffa Cake earlier today (to see it tomorrow), wish I had watched your review first because now I think I might have picked something else. 😅 Missed out on a ticket today and spontaneously decided to see the one-man-play "Oran" (very very loosely connected to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice) instead - and I'm glad I did, a really captivating performance, immersive and great story telling by a talented and dedicated actor!
...I'd also like to know what criteria you use to pick the shows you see in the introduction --and how many out of the total was 60? All of them? Half?. Seems like last year was a lot more reworkings of shows that had been there before, was that element not present as much this year or did you just prioritize new shows you hadn't seen? I really liked the ranking though.
Oh I was hoping you'd seen I am Your Tribute and/or An Evening without Kate Bush - Sarah Louise Young is SO GOOD. But thank you for the hi rotation round up to this kiwi who won't ever get the The Fringe xo
I saw Reuben Kaye live for the first time today (the earlier show, not the "Kaye Hole") and I was absolutely blown away. I didn't know what to expect but I certainly didn't think I'd be treated to the most incredible, awe-inspiring singing voice performing flawlessly-written comedy and social commentary songs as well as stand up that was just banger afer banger, hit after hit. And the presence and performing skills this man has, f*cking incredible. Wow wow wow!
It was my first time at the fringe this year, and i think I managed to see 10 shows in a week! Sad you didn't get to see Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs), it was a real highlight of my trip, definitely the best show I saw!
"Three of a kind" - worst musical I've ever seen. Their promos compare to the big current greats of theatre, hopes to tour etc. Terrible TERRIBLE book, story didn't make sense, completely unmemorable songs....extremely poor character arcs. just delusional. ughhhh.
If you decide to do a question/answer video about the Fringe, or just about theatre, would you include these questions? You mentioned having a hard time hearing songs because they didn't have microphones. Forgive my 'back in the day' mindset, but we had to be heard on a stage in a gymnasium without microphones. From your videos, the spaces didn't look that big. How much can be blamed on the actors not projecting? Your reviews of solo shows made me wonder if they would be improved by getting a few more actors. One-'man' shows are difficult to write and perform. Is it possible that some of those type of shows would just be improved by not being solo shows? In your review of 'Hello Dolly', you compared American vs English version of presenting it. Concerning the Fringe, did you see theatrical American-isms, English-isms, Irish-isms, Scottish-isms, other country-isms comparisons? That's a horrible sentence.
ypu've never seen silence of the lambs?!?!?! OMG you and aeron james will have a real once in a lifetime treat to watch the movie on a date night at home. This won best pic oscar and sir anthony hopkins and jodie foster play amazing off each other. you must see
Your take on the guy who's parents lied to him for 30 years as he was being the selfish one is off. They raised him, lying to him the whole time, his entire relationship with them was based on lies. And then when he finds out they want him to keep the secret. THAT is selfish. Keeping your child from knowing their true family medical history is selfish. It is his life, his story, he gets to decide who he tells, how he tells it, especially when that kept hidden from him for so long.
60 shows?!?! I mean, it's wonderful and amazing and I'm thrilled you had a great time, but...should I be worried? How much Red Bull did you drink? Is an intervention called for here? Put on your warm jammies and get some rest, honey. Love - Mom. ;-)
So jealous by how many you managed to see! We managed 15 in 3 days.
For me the highlights were:
- Come dine with me the musical: but I wish there was more spoken dialogue, I imagine there would be more if they went to a full show time, also dissapointed by the lack of the 'what a sad little life jane' reference which felt well set up.
- Barbara (and Kenneth): Deanna was incredible!
- Traditional Scottish Tales: spoken word show at the Scottish Storyteling Centre, it was intimate and cozy and lovely.
- I wish you well: sadly the only gwyneth musical I could see but hoping to see the other in Manchester soon.
-Luke Rollason: Silly physical comedy show, really silly fun.
Dissapointments for me were:
- Sycamore grove: really well acted but more of a psychological thriller than scary as advertised.
- The Mosinee project: It just didn't feel satisfying for some reason?
- The NPC musical: I'm sure the 4 non paying (at least at our show) players with headsets had fun but the interactive portion for the audience was really limited. The storyline just wasn't there. It felt like they shoehorned in suicide awareness at the end but it felt too late in the game (pun intended ;)).
These are all just my opinions, sharing here in case anyone saw the same shows and thought similarly/differently and wants to discuss in the replies.
Thank you for this video and for your video in the run-up to the fringe!
The 60 second timer was genius, that hour just flew by! And it was only until #46 that I realised you're wearing a colour lipstick that matches your hoodie 💋
What an enjoyable ride. You didn't set yourself an easy task here, but it was both informative and efficient. Thank you so much.
Half Man Half Bull was my absolute favourite thing I saw. Felt so ancient in its simplicity, but modern at the same time.
The anachronistic elements completely broke my heart during the ending of Theseus, and how Icarus's death is conveyed. 💔
"there was a lot of, um, earnest charisma is their performance" - you have a kind word for everyone ;) You've got me trained so well, I've just watched this hour-long video detailing shows I'll never see because I was excited as the thought of Mickey Jo flexing his memory, critical faculties and vocal cords in a race against the clock. An hour well spent.
Your vlogs and reviews have inspired me to plan a fringe trip myself for next year! I’ve really enjoyed them.
(Also I don’t know how you managed this, my anxiety increased with each alarm and I wasn’t even the one being timed 😂)
It's so validating to hear the clichés I see in middling productions so accurately picked apart. I hate the trope of half a conversation onstage.
I'm wildly jealous. You get the supreme pleasure of getting to see Ms.Blanchett in The Seagull. That's going to be some performance!
Hi, thank you so much for all your Fringe videos. They were soooo helpful for me 😀
This year, I even had the opportunity of briefly meeting you there... (Aaron and you were the sweetest).
More Fringe content next year, please... 😀
I must suggest watching anything by the “Ugly Bucket Theatre Company”, a clowning comedy physical verbatim theatre company. 2 years ago they did “good grief” a play about all sorts of grief and this year they did “Stuffed” a play about food banks using verbatim and wacky comedy but it still hits the emotional beats throughout. Must must must go and see any show they do 😀
One of my acting tutors from uni is in Ugly Bucket, legit learnt a lot from her, they're amazing! 🙌
Wow you're a machine - I did 18 over 4 days this year which allowed a good balance between running around and enjoyment 😂
2:03 there are many real life disaster events like Willy’s that would make for great dark comedy plays and musicals and this is not one of them.
I actually am working on a script for a stage play based on the real behind the scenes turmoil of the filming of a movie based on a popular video game franchise (not gonna say cause I don’t want my idea stolen lolz)
Only mamaged to get there for one day yesteray but saw 2 shows
First show was Hoarderz by Gritty Gaze, now I'm biased and know them personally as I went to uni with them and we all graduated this year! They're really talented, it's the first show and it's only on for another 2 days but it's definitely worth watching, they did an amazing job. They're Liverpool based and their shows reflect that, also really good if you like a dystopia.
Second show was Solve It Squad by Tin Can Bros, my brother wanted to see them really bad and they did not disappoint us, couldn't stop laughing, genuinely had an amazing time at that one, I do love a parody though. 🤣
Fingers crossed I’ll be able to get up there next year!
I just saw Willy’s candy spectacular today and was really disapointed
I did 47 shows in 7 days. Hey Mickey, you should expand your horizons, man! There's so many different types of shows, you might be missing something!
I really hope the creators of these shows watch this, because there are SO many constructive notes. I love that despite the hard time limit, you never appear to rush and give each show due consideration. Did you ever get "theatered out" with so many shows back to back to back?
Sad you didn’t get to see “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, serious underrated show and production IMO
I absolutely *loved* that show, a real highlight of the Fringe for me.
Last show I saw at the fringe was 3 chickens questioning existence and while I liked it the entire time I thought “oh Mickey Jo would hate this
Thanks so much for your Edinburgh reviews, Mickey. I agree with a lot of your Top 10 - Half Man/Half Bull and Diva: Live from Hell especially. Best show I saw that you didn't see was 'Or What's Left of Us' by Sh!t Theatre, another very powerful piece on grief, expressed through folk music, rituals and healing through community.
Yayyy I’m so glad diary of a gay disaster got rated highly :) and pop off Michelangelo!!! I’m so glad
Edit: I watched titswingers as a workshop in London in February and I really liked it, I personally would give it four stars. But it does need development, if I recall correctly the first draft was only finished in January of this year
Another edit: I watched every brilliant thing when they did a performance at my school earlier this year before the fringe!! It was really great!! I’m lucky I got to watch it!!!!
I loved Tit Swingers. I probably would have given it four stars. However, nothing you said about it is wrong. It's worth developing. Also the music was just a tad too loud for the singing. Not overly so, I could hear the lyrics but I could definitely have heard them better.
I saw 15 shows in 3 days. Almost everything was great.
My highlights were:
Frankenstein on a Budget;
Summoning Sondheim; and
Lobster Bisque.
I didn't see them this year because I had seen the shows in previous years but Box Tale Soup are a great theatre company. Particularly Gulliver. Typically they never tour near me.
Hm just bought my ticket for Jaffa Cake earlier today (to see it tomorrow), wish I had watched your review first because now I think I might have picked something else. 😅
Missed out on a ticket today and spontaneously decided to see the one-man-play "Oran" (very very loosely connected to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice) instead - and I'm glad I did, a really captivating performance, immersive and great story telling by a talented and dedicated actor!
...I'd also like to know what criteria you use to pick the shows you see in the introduction --and how many out of the total was 60? All of them? Half?. Seems like last year was a lot more reworkings of shows that had been there before, was that element not present as much this year or did you just prioritize new shows you hadn't seen? I really liked the ranking though.
Oh I was hoping you'd seen I am Your Tribute and/or An Evening without Kate Bush - Sarah Louise Young is SO GOOD. But thank you for the hi rotation round up to this kiwi who won't ever get the The Fringe xo
I saw Reuben Kaye live for the first time today (the earlier show, not the "Kaye Hole") and I was absolutely blown away. I didn't know what to expect but I certainly didn't think I'd be treated to the most incredible, awe-inspiring singing voice performing flawlessly-written comedy and social commentary songs as well as stand up that was just banger afer banger, hit after hit.
And the presence and performing skills this man has, f*cking incredible. Wow wow wow!
I saw him in 2018 as a MC in a comedy/acrobatic cabaret show called Club Swizzle. He absolutely stole the show and I’ve never forgotten the name!
Best thing I saw at the fringe was “the mystery of Dracula” which I’d describe as In And Of Itself meets the occult
This is a DO NOT MISS show if anyone has a chance to see it next year or anywhere else
I got to see a production of Every Brilliant Thing in Dallas,Texas. It was wonderful.
… could you do this for every show you saw but didn’t review at the end of the year
I 👏 you what a presentation , candid ,funny informative . All this in a what seems in a flash ,we can see the entertainer in you .🎬👏
It was my first time at the fringe this year, and i think I managed to see 10 shows in a week! Sad you didn't get to see Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs), it was a real highlight of my trip, definitely the best show I saw!
"Three of a kind" - worst musical I've ever seen. Their promos compare to the big current greats of theatre, hopes to tour etc. Terrible TERRIBLE book, story didn't make sense, completely unmemorable songs....extremely poor character arcs. just delusional. ughhhh.
This was brilliant
I saw 30 shows! My favourites were Werewolf and Burnout Paradise. My least favourites were Keep Watching It and Umbilical Brothers
Is it bad that I wanna here all the hot gossip about the least good shows everyone saw at the fringe
If you decide to do a question/answer video about the Fringe, or just about theatre, would you include these questions?
You mentioned having a hard time hearing songs because they didn't have microphones. Forgive my 'back in the day' mindset, but we had to be heard on a stage in a gymnasium without microphones. From your videos, the spaces didn't look that big. How much can be blamed on the actors not projecting?
Your reviews of solo shows made me wonder if they would be improved by getting a few more actors. One-'man' shows are difficult to write and perform. Is it possible that some of those type of shows would just be improved by not being solo shows?
In your review of 'Hello Dolly', you compared American vs English version of presenting it. Concerning the Fringe, did you see theatrical American-isms, English-isms, Irish-isms, Scottish-isms, other country-isms comparisons? That's a horrible sentence.
with the projecting it should be noted that while u could be heard in a school gym they are very echo-y whereas most of these spaces arent
You are the best!
Bravo!
Two shows I loved that you didn't mention: If I Live Until I Be A Man and The Last Incel
I was hoping Micky would see If I Live! I've loved previous work from that theater company and was gutted I didn't get to see it.
ypu've never seen silence of the lambs?!?!?! OMG you and aeron james will have a real once in a lifetime treat to watch the movie on a date night at home. This won best pic oscar and sir anthony hopkins and jodie foster play amazing off each other. you must see
Next year you should do some sit down review videos from Edinburgh
am i the only one who reckons the wonka experience musical was deliberately bad to represent the actual experience?
Your take on the guy who's parents lied to him for 30 years as he was being the selfish one is off. They raised him, lying to him the whole time, his entire relationship with them was based on lies. And then when he finds out they want him to keep the secret. THAT is selfish. Keeping your child from knowing their true family medical history is selfish. It is his life, his story, he gets to decide who he tells, how he tells it, especially when that kept hidden from him for so long.
Wow you're a machine - I did 18 over 4 days this year which gave a good balance between running around and enjoyment 😂