Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Day 3

Howard & Mimi @ Gilded Balloon Teviot

After failing to pick any spectacular shows on the previous two days we almost chose todays at Random. After visiting Edinburgh Castle in the morning we decided to take advantage of the 2-for-1's at the Gilded Balloon. The first was a charming two person play about a cat and a dog whose owners move in together and have to learn to get along. A Paul Kerensa/ Churchill-esqe "Oh yes, yes, yes... oh no, no, no" helped continue our links to previous shows.
6/10

Jarleth Regan - Nobody Knows Jarleth Regan @ Gilded Balloon Teviot
...I'm not sure if anyone will on this performance. The show started with a video of him making the trip from Ireland to Edinburgh, coinciding with him walking through the door at the right moment. Unfortunately this delayed the start due to a power-cut. He advertised his "alternative cards" (in much the same way Stephen Grant advertised his patented modern "inventions"), and handed out Jarleth Regan fans (because he did not have any in Edinburgh at the moment).
6/10

Women Fully Clothed @ Gilded Balloon Teviot
Five Canadian women do sketches on what it is like being a woman in Canada. You can tell I did not relate to it much but I suspect this would be great for the (dare I say more mature) women who find themselves at the fringe. Like Lucy Porter at one point they sing a song with more practical words (I forget which one it was).
5.5/10

Shelley Cooper: Reality Cheque @ Laughing Horse at the Counting House
Shelley says she used to do the big venues at the Edinburgh Festival but decided to do free shows because "paying £10 to see someone you have never heard of is not the Fringe". A free show therefore, she played quite well to the small gathering, and seemed to take a liking for me (she was joking I think, playing on the fact she is transgendered). She was pretty sharp however.
6.5/10

Asian Invasion @ Laughing Horse at Jekyll & Hyde
They managed to bring 4 people up from Birmingham, and despite the title of the show only one and a half were asian (a number our foursome managed to beat). Annette Fagan, of Afro Carribean origin (Asians are a bit thick you see, she said she was West Indian) kicked-off with an outfit bought for £10 for Primark, except for the shoes (she tiefed them). Then a half-Irish/ half-Indian comic came on who should have been funnier. As an Catholic of Indian origin who grew up among the Irish community, I'm sure he should have had funnier jokes, but I can't think of any at the moment. Next came Johnny Showaddy-waddy Soho. They don't make comedy like this anymore (there might be a reason). Don't talk to him about the number 63 - good old fashioned Brummie humour. Finally Darminder Singh, another comedian on the bill at the British Oak headlined the line-up with some goodness gracious me style humour. All-in-all, a great show if you are Brummie, but could have been funnier if you weren't.
6.5/10