Festival
We look forward to having you here, at the friendliest venue on the Edinburgh Fringe
We're a year-round venue, hosting clubs, gigs, comedy, theatre, film, talks, exhibitions, dance classes and cabaret. Every August we go above and beyond our weekly ambitions, to bring you even more ...
This year, The Bongo Club welcomes a wide blend of performers, shows, artists and entertainers to ensure there is truly something for everyone...
COMEDY
MARK THOMAS: EXTREME RAMBLING [WALKING THE WALL]
Following his sell-out nationwide show ‘The Manifesto’, the award-winning comedian and activist returns with his brand new show.
Never one to take the easy option, Mark decided to go rambling in the Middle East, walking the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier. This is the story of 300,000 settlers; a 750km wall; six arrests, one stoning; too much hummus and a simple question ... ‘Can you ever get away from it all with a good walk?’
‘Moving and inspiring…as gripping as any live performance you will see’ [The Guardian]
COMEDY
AMUSED MOOSE LAUGHTER COMEDY AWARDS 'TOP TEN' SEMI-FINAL & FINAL
Talent scouts wildest dreams! Segments of this year's 'Top Ten' comedy shows from emerging or overlooked performers are showcased back to back in a level playing field situation. 2011's ten most entertaining Fringe comedy shows from undiscovered talent have been handpicked by a respected industry panel, from hundreds of full-length shows.
Grab your hot ticket for this treat, and vote alongside international comedy cognoscenti for your favourites, selecting Amused Moose Laughter Awards finalists who'll battle it out with longer segments on Sunday for the £5000 prize, a shiny moose trophy and glory.
These splendid contenders in the much anticipated Finals of Amused Moose Laughter Awards [for full length comedy Fringe shows from undiscovered/unsigned performers] and Amused Moose Laugh Off [for this year's emerging stand-ups] follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Carr, Rhod Gilbert, Jack Whitehall, Sarah Millican, Simon Amstell, Andi Osho and Greg Davies. Supported by leading UK-owned dvd publishing company 2entertain.
'Prestigious talent search' [Ents24]
'Potential comedy stars' [Chortle]
'Future stars' [TimeOut]
www.amusedmoose.com
COMEDY
DRYBURGH FLETCHER WARD Presents: THE QUOTIDIAN REVUE
This is a show about the everyday, mundane, invisible details of life that are often ignored or dismissed, but on closer examination turn out to be funny, entertaining and unexpected.
Lewis Dryburgh 'showstopper' [The Independent on Sunday], Peter Fletcher 'legendary' [The Irish Times] and James Ward ‘strange, funny, moving' [The Observer] consider the intangible beauty of car park roofs, the counting of sneezes and the Cadbury Twirl.
COMEDY
SALLY OUTEN: NON-BIO?
Sally Outen works in a bookshop. She went to Indonesia, once. She likes cats. She's also transsexual, bisexual, and a [not angry, just disappointed] feminist. She'd quite like to talk about books, cats, and Indonesia, but people always seem more interested in the shape of her genitals. With her trademark geekery and bizarre animal impersonations, Sally explains why she may [possibly] be an acceptable human being after all.
‘Some of the most interesting and original stand-up comedy I have seen at the Fringe’ [Scotsgay]
‘Particularly incisive... reminiscent of Quentin Crisp's laconic wit’ [Oxford Theatre Review]
www.lashings.org
THEATRE
AL BOWLLY'S CROON MANIFESTO
Roll up the carpet and push back the chairs! Rip-roaring theatre, live music and dance celebrating the life of 1930’s crooner, Al Bowlly. While stock markets crashed, war loomed and the world moved faster than ever before, Bowlly was redefining singing into the tender, expressive style that paved the way for pop. This show tells his fast-paced, charming and ultimately tragic story, then gives you the chance to show off your moves in our post show dance.
Limited free tickets for retro-styled swing/ballroom dancers, 70 minutes plus free post show dance.
'Highly Recommended Show' (FringeReview.co.uk).
THEATRE
A GRIMM TALE
‘A Grimm Tale’ is the occasionally disturbing and often hilarious story of a group of largely errant schoolchildren sent to a brat camp under the supervision of two sinister brothers. One by one they break the rules and escape to the forest where they find themselves the victims of familiar and yet fitting calamities.
Expect the gruesome and gory as we resurrect the tales you once knew in a chance to educate the brats of today! Physical theatre at its best.
‘It is an enthusiastic exploration of fairytales in their original and wholehearted sadistic glory’ [BritishTheatreGuide.info, 2006]
THEATRE
ST MARY'S COLLEGE YOUTH THEATRE Presents: FORCE QUIT
Memory is the bridge that connects a person to reality … but what if the bridge you cross belongs to someone else? A sloping, sinister look into how memories are formed and how they shape our character.
After a critically acclaimed run of 'The Piano Project' at last year's Fringe, SMCYT return with a new piece of physical theatre. A stripped down, raw performance that takes theatre back to basics to explore how memories form, change and delete. Memories blur on the bridge that connects but divides what we experience and perceive. Faces, names, places all fade into oblivion.
CABARET
LASHINGS OF GINGER BEER TIME
Queer. Feminist. Burlesque? Combining lush Victorian drag with thigh-high PVC boots, upbeat musical-theatre optimism with 21st-century political rage, this is music hall for the Internet age. Returning to the politically charged roots of burlesque, we aim to provide titillation for the brain by entertaining and challenging our audiences in equal measure.
This Radical Queer Feminist Burlesque Collective takes in a wide variety of perspectives - kinky and vanilla, monogamous and polyamorous, transgendered, lesbian, bisexual, and straight. Every performance is different: song, dance, comedy, and more besides!
www.lashings.org
CABARET
TROUBLE Presents DISCO BINGO!
90 tracks. 90 balls. Two decks. One spin. The bingo wheel chooses the records whilst our caller guides you through a night of comedy bingo with party games, spot prizes and audience forfeits. Music plundered from the Oxfam music vaults.
Includes free entry to Trouble's ‘Devil Disco Club’; DJs Erik D'Viking & Hobbes, Giles Walker (Snafu, Aberdeen).
‘The darker side of disco from one of Edinburgh's finest club nights’ (List) and Trouble present ‘Wonky’; MC Profisee, DJs S-Type, Hobbes and Wolfjazz.
‘A night of UK funky, hip-hop, beats, bass and dubstep with Afrobeat’ (List).
www.getintotrouble.com
CHILDREN
COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS
Otter-ly fantastic! Now in its sixth year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the ‘Comedy Club 4 Kids’ is back and better than ever. Cracking entertainment for everyone over the age of six, we have the best comedians on the UK and international circuit doing what they do best ... but without the rude bits!
'The perfect way to entertain the whole family' [Three Weeks]
‘All in all this show was great. It is laugh your socks off comedy fit for the whole family, including parents and grandparents. Nobody will feel left out’ [Scotsman]
Check our Twitter @comedyclub4kids for line-ups.
CHILDREN
RANDOM ACTS THEATRE COMPANY Presents MABLE MACKINTOSH AND HER ENORMOUS PANTS
Come and meet Mable Mackintosh and her enormous pants and see how much trouble they get her into! This original piece of writing is a story of friendship, loyalty, courage and the life long challenge of being accepted by others. Packed full of fun, laughter and unusual characters – does Veronica get her comeuppance? Will Mable have the courage to be proud of who she is?
This musical for 5-9 year olds provides plenty of opportunities for audience interaction, so come and join in the songs and be part of Mable’s famous pant dance! |
