Princess of the Day - Snow White

Now I have the full set, I can get to work on my Princess Cabaret Top Trumps set...

Edinburgh Festival Insider - Best Newcomer 2009

The Fringe always draws hopeful and enthusiastic performers and groups from around the world to its gigantic stage. Helping to keep it fresh and constantly-evolving, these first-timers often provide some unexpected delights amongst the more established acts that return year after year.

The nominations for the Edinburgh Festival Insider Best Newcomer Award 2009 are:

• Sambor Dudzinski's The Time(less) Machine. Polish 'art-warrior' and multi-talented performance artist Dudzinski unveiled his marvellously original and captivating vision at Edinburgh for the first time this year.
• TBA Collaborative with The Grind Show. A young and enthusiastic group of students and alumni from Washington, TBA Collaborative brought their dark and alluring Grind Show for its Fringe debut.
• Princess Cabaret. Some of the princesses had never left Oz before, let alone brought an original and buzz-creating sketch show to the biggest stage in the world.
• Xavier Mortimer's The Shadow Orchestra. A true hidden gem amongst Universal Arts' excellent programme, Mortimer's Fringe debut was spellbinding, magical and hugely enjoyable.
• The Paper Cinema with The Lost World. A beautiful and charming visit from The Paper Cinema with their unique and lovingly-recreated interpretation of Conan Doyle's classic.

And the winner is...

TBA Collaborative with The Grind Show

For their infectious enthusiasm, for their dark and cleverly-realised vision, for their patronage of fellow performers throughout their visit, for their encapsulation of the spirit of the Fringe - and most of all for the fact they deserve all the encouragement they need to return here again next year with another show which will no doubt surpass the already wonderful Grind Show: TBA Collaborative, here's your:

Edinburgh Festival Insider - Comedy Award 2009

Although comedy is not my favourite genre, I've seen a smattering of shows that fall into that camp. And whilst an award from someone that doesn't claim to be an expert in the field may not amount to a hill of beans, there are some shows which certainly deserve special mention.

So, here is the inaugural Edinburgh Festival Insider Comedy Award 2009 - and the nominees are, in no particular order:

• Frisky & Mannish's School of Pop. This show has caused a sensation in its first ever visit to the Fringe. Hilarious spoof pop songs which had me laughing so hard I was grateful for the image stabilisation on my camera and a pair of stars in the making.
• Princess Cabaret. Everyone's favourite tweeting Disney Princesses treated us to a show which lived up to the hype and provided some cleverly-written sketch-based comedy that saw Snow White and the rest descending into some pretty risque territory.
• The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Goes To Hollywood. Intentionally shambolic, utterly chaotic and more laughs in 60 minutes than two socks have the right to generate.
• Shut Up, Play! For its uniquely Japanese lunacy and inspired nonsense, Original Tempo was a delight from beginning to end and had moments of absolute hilarity.
• Chris Cox: Mind Over Patter Mind-reading mentalism with a large dose of funny lines and self-effacing asides, Cox - like the Princesses - predicted how useful Twitter would be in generating interest in his great and mind-boggling show.

And the winner is....

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Goes To Hollywood!

For consistent laughs and boundless energy, Kev F Sutherland and his socks are this year's winners for speeding through a fast-paced hour of sketches, spoofs, ad-libs and songs that had me laughing from the moment the socks appeared until Sutherland emerged in his kilt at the very end. Both hilarious and extremely clever, his excellent show deserves not only this award but sell-out audiences for every run to come.

So, socks, take a bow:

Princess of the Day - Ariel

Ariel from the very funny Princess Cabaret.

Only Snow White to try and capture now, then my set is complete...

RT @Review: #Princess Cabaret *****

If Twitter has a royal family, the girls from Princess Cabaret are certainly first in line for the throne (perhaps that makes Chris Cox Prince Charming...)

After a clever and blanket marketing storm using everyone's favourite new social medium, this talented troupe of Australian comediennes have created an unmissable buzz this year, even featuring in the national press as doyennes of tweeting, hashtags and followfridays.

A newly-awoken Sleeping Beauty is trying to come to terms with the modern world. Jasmine is increasingly tired of Aladdin's laddish ways. Belle kind of misses the Beast, now he's back in human form. Cinderella's having identity issues, whilst Snow White has developed some rather disturbing psychotic tendencies. Ariel's just a fish out of water, whilst Tinkerbell is distraught at the fact she's only a fairy...

Princess Cabaret has a brilliant conceit - dragging the Disney heroines out of their happy-ever-afters and into the real world - and the girls execute it well. The put-upon Tinkerbell in particular shines as a narrator of sorts, providing musical interludes on her keyboard as the other princesses rush from one sketch to the next.

Some of this is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny and the humour gets more risque as the show progresses (some of Aurora's political incorrectness is the sort of thing Jerry Sadowitz might even blush about...) and the girls carry it off with style and energy in a mixture of sketches, song and dance routines.

The climax (word intentionally chosen) is absolutely hilarious and the whole show lives up to the buzz surrounding it, meaning you'll not be disappointed by it if your curiosity's been pricked by the Princesses.

I would perhaps have given the show four stars as it stood, but as an example of how acts like this can rise to the top through their own promotional savvy, Princess Cabaret deserves an extra star - perhaps one retweeted by the legions of followers they have now accumulated.


Princess Cabaret runs until Aug 31st at the Gilded Balloon. £7 (£6 concession)

Photo of the day - Princess Cabaret

Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty from the inspired Princess Cabaret (click image to view full size)

Review to follow when I get a bit of spare time...(!)

Princess of the Day - Tinkerbell

They seek her here, they seek her there, that damned elusive Tinkerbell (from the Princess Cabaret) - click image to view full size

Princess of the Day - Sleeping Beauty

Another member of The Princess Cabaret - now where is that elusive Tinkerbell...?

Princess of the Day - Belle

Another member of the Princess Cabaret (Beast not pictured).

Princess of the day - Cinderella

Another one for the set - Cinderella from the Princess Cabaret, with some adoring friends.

Want to feature here? Drop me a line.

Photo of the Day - Princess Jasmine

Princess Jasmine from the Twitter-storming Princess Cabaret. I plan to capture them all over the Festival season and make my own Princess Top Trumps set...

Want to appear in this section? Drop me a line.