FESTIVAL DIARY DAY 6 - Paul Foot, Bridget Christie and A Finger of Judge

And here we go again... Tuesday was full of promise, with two of the more well-known 'alternative' acts performing in the city.

Alternative Star - Paul Foot

First up was Paul Foot at the Cookie Jar. Regular readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of the mulleted oddball. Love him or hate him, to see his act is to know that there are people out there who are thinking in a totally unique way and are not afraid to just run with it on stage, taking you to places you never thought you'd go. He has never tried to tailor his act for a mainstream telly-viewing audience, which ironically, has led to him getting a fair bit of TV coverage, having popped up next to Noel Fielding on Buzzcocks, done a spot on Russell Howard's Good News and is now featuring in Comedy Central's Alternative Comedy Experience. Last night's show was all that you'd expect from Foot, starting with a ten-minute intro in which he awkwardly introduces himself to the audience and imagines out loud the different reasons why they might have come to see his show, eventually coming to the conclusion that the next hour's performance will more than likely ruin a couple of marriages within the audience.

He then proceeded to perform several chunks of his Kenny Larch is Dead show from last year - each segment a bizarre and tangential story which gets more ridiculous as it goes along. First there was the tale of the woman with the largest cheddar collection in the country, which is tragically ruined by an overgrown cucumber. Next, an account of a children's birthday party, also tragically ruined, this time by the host providing meatless sausages. Lastly, the unfortunate plight of an angel in Heaven being ignored by everyone when she breaks a wing. Not your standard observational fare, obviously, but Foot's wilfully strange tone, bizarre appearance and unique phrasing fill each tale with unexpected humour and keep the audience laughing at the slightest word or facial expression. Each segment reaches a climax with Foot launching himself into the audience in character, either screaming or sobbing right into the face, or lap, of an unsuspecting audience member - this is where Foot really excels as a performer, creating an intensity in the room that will either completely alienate you if you're not going along with him, or send you into uncontrollable fits of laughter if you are. Last night most people were with him all the way.

Passionate - Bridget Christie

Except for me that is, since I had to sneak out during the final 'disturbances' section of the show, to race over to Curve to catch Bridget Christie. The show advertised was the hour and half-long War Donkey, but this was not what the audience received. Instead she performed an hour of donkeyless material on feminism, which did include some parts from the advertised show, along with a few new bits. Whilst Christie is clearly an intelligent performer who is very passionate about the subject, the jokes on the whole were not strong enough to prevent the show from occasionally feeling more like a humourous lecture than an hour of stand-up comedy. Indeed, some of the biggest laughs came from the real-life responses of an ignorant Waterstone's employee she had encountered, who was neither aware of the feminist writers she was asking him about, nor could spell any of their names. There were some great ideas in her set though, such as her routine about Bic's ridiculously patronising 'for her' range of feminised pens, but I was left feeling like she could've pushed these ideas further to squeeze more humour out of her annoyance.

Pointing the finger -  host Bruce Edhouse

With that show being shorter than billed, I was able to scoot across town once again to catch a selection of local talent appearing in A Finger of Judge at the Looking Glass. Hosted in typically understated fashion by Bruce Edhouse, this was a thoroughly silly comedy game show in which four performers competed for audience votes in a series of challenges. Firstly the art round, in which we were treated to fabulous cheese sculpture, built by Blake Incarcerated (aka Ian Hall) whilst channelling the spirit of Jim Morrison, as well as Lindsey Warnes-Carroll's expressive dance version of Fifty Shades of Grey using naked dolls. My personal highlight of that round was Graham Milton's video montage of the life of a stand-up comedian, which mostly involved looking bored, eating chips and sighing a lot. The guests were then each invited to talk for a couple of minutes about a record cover they hadn't seen before - the clear highlight of that round being Barnaby J Thompson's ludicrous appraisal of Zip Zap Rap by Devastatin' Dave the Turntable Slave (one of the all-time classic bad album covers). Thompson had the room in stitches, getting all emotional about the artist's sexual magnetism, and urging us to let him into our lives so he could take us places we've never wanted to go before... priceless. Then came an auction, in which audience members bid for items bought by the performers for less than £2 in a charity shop. Some truly impressive finds in there, including a 7inch of Rolf Harris' Two Little Boys, the Lenny Henry comedy board game (in mint condition no less), one of William Shatner's appallingly written TekWars books, and the most elaborate, decorative lighter/nut receptacle ever created. The final round was a spot the difference contest, which, whilst amusing, was actually little more than an excuse for the performers to plug their own festival shows. Overall it was a fun and inclusive show which created a great atmosphere in the room, as well as producing some real unscripted comedic gems along the way - Bruce falling of his chair at the back of the stage being just one of these!

I'll be back tomorrow with more dispatches from the festival's front line. Tonight promises to be a weird and wonderful experience, as I immerse myself in Richard Peel's performance/mime/atmospherics extravaganza Cyborg! and subject myself to the demented, early Vic&Bob-style cabaret of Barbara Steele's Wheels of Steel. Until tomorrow, friends...