An overview of some of the misconceptions about the cultural role of critics as expressed in several shows at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, including The Reviewers, Critical! and No Turn Unstoned by Diana Rigg
Why isn’t today’s cabaret more overtly political?
In a post yesterday, I suggested that the direct political engagement with which we still associate Brecht, Weill and Weimar cabaret in general is harder to find on the current cabaret scene, even though we live in a world of war, division, oppression, inequality and exploitation scarcely less outrageous than that of the interwar period. […]
Interview with Alternative Miss World’s Andrew Logan for Run Riot
I didn’t know much about Andrew Logan and his Alternative Miss World pageant – except that the current title-holder was that awesome powerhouse of alt burlesque and more, Fancy Chance – until I saw the documentary The British Guide to Showing Off last year. I was pretty awestruck by the sensibility, scale, longevity and accumulated […]
Something old, something new: Ute Lemper and Dive’s Super-Fringe Sweep
“Come taste the wine, come hear the band!” As Ute Lemper reaches that line in that song (you know the one), she jerks a thumb over her shoulder to indicate ‘the band’ – though it’s a funny way of referring to the 60-odd classically trained musicians of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. But then Friday night’s […]
Edinburgh Fringe 2014: highlights so far
Well, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an internal organ… It’s been a slightly unusual Fringe. I had a week of great shows, lots of work and a little bit of play (less than I’d have liked thanks to those pesky London deadlines that I always promise myself will be cleared before the Fringe […]
Introducing the Not Television Festival!
One of the joys of doing a blog is that you get to celebrate the things you like just cos you like them. Since Not Television launched at the end of 2013, I’ve had the chance to do a bit of that in real life too, programming some of the acts I admire at Come […]
We’re revolting! The wonder of Divine
Today, July 18 2014, sees the UK release of I Am Divine, a documentary by Jeffrey Schwarz about the mother of all alt-drag icons. This is a piece I wrote about Divine for the Curzon cinemas magazine. No one likes to be constantly identified with past glories and by the end of his life, […]
Critic pride! Reclaiming the ‘c’-word in my new ebook on criticism
I used to be wary of describing myself as a critic. It just sounds mean, or like you know better than everyone else. But I’ve thought about it and these days, it’s a term I embrace: critic and proud! The reason for this is pretty much the same straightforward reason a lot of us still […]
Pride in London round-up for Evening Standard
Today is Pride in London and I did a round-up of events in the capital for yesterday’s Evening Standard. I like how open the Standard is these days to LGBT and even occasionally queer content. For this round-up (which also includes a few entries written by the features desk and included under my byline), I […]
These are Paul L Martin’s favourite Battersea Barge memories. What are yours?
Over the past year or two, some of the institutions that helped shape the London cabaret scene since the turn of the century have bitten the dust: companies like the Boom Boom Club and Eat Your Heart Out; residencies like the DE Experience at the RVT and the Wam Bam Club at the Café de […]
