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<\/p>\nThe infinite wisdom of someone who has never critiqued nor even been before<\/p>\n
As someone who hasn\u2019t been to the Fringe since I was about 10, I was warned that there is everything from undiscovered genius to absolute shit.\u00a0So the tricky question becomes, how do you tell the difference?\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are countless reasons which would lead you to wander into a random Fringe show. Perhaps you\u2019ve had a flyer shoved down your throat, been taken hostage and forced into a random room on the Royal Mile. Or maybe you\u2019re so pissed you don\u2019t even realise you\u2019ve stumbled in, to the point where you have no recollection of attending the following morning.<\/p>\n
So in no particular order, here are five Fringe experiences this year you don\u2019t want to miss.<\/p>\n
1. Loos Loos\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Loos Loos is a two-woman show following the conversations, shared between two best friends in the sanctuary of their secondary school bathroom. The seventeen-year-olds Lou (the lovely Bella Ofo) and Freya (my best mate Isobel McNerney) attempt to navigate their adolescence, with challenges intensifying in the confusing aftermath of a party and an assault. Loos Loos is on at four o\u2019clock each day, just up from the Royal Mile \u2013 where Dame Maggie Smith and Stephen Fry have been known to perform in the past. If you\u2019re looking to see some upcoming talent before she\u2019s overrun with paparazzi in the future, this is your chance. Isobel\u2019s gift is as clear to see as the moon in a cloudless sky. Am I biased? Yes. But am I right? Also yes. Go see these two wonderful Cambridge students before it\u2019s too late x<\/p>\n
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#Thisisdefinitelynotanad (image credit: Geraint Lewis)<\/p>\n
2. ARCADE (DARKFIELD)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
For those who love Black Mirror, this is Bandersnatch in 4D. Sharing the 1980s video game aesthetic, it\u2019s an immersive experience like nothing you\u2019ve ever encountered before. You enter a shipping container, in which you put on some headphones and await the absolute pitch black. It\u2019s a choose-your-own-path experience, guided by an eerie binaural audio so effective that it makes you feel as though actors are whispering in your ear. I won\u2019t give anything away, but I went in with two friends and we all came out with VERY different endings. It\u2019s the kind of experience you\u2019ll want to do over and over again \u2013 making different decisions and playing out the consequences. The ARCADE simulation is located in Bristol Square (The Pleasance Dome) but DARKFIELD offers two others, called EULOGY and RADIO at Summerhall, which I\u2019m sure will be equally captivating. It\u2019s 30 minutes of your life you will not regret.
3. 1 Big Oops\u00a0<\/b>
This is an interactive experience held at Mash House, where a trio of comedians act out the audience\u2019s most embarrassing confessions live on stage. When you arrive, you\u2019re asked to anonymously write down some of your\u00a0 \u2018biggest oops\u2019\u2019. Have you ever partaken in some unseemly entanglements in a public place? Or accidentally engaged in the murder of your friend\u2019s hamster? Whatever you\u2019ve done, they want to hear it. The lucky (or unlucky) nine confessions will then be pulled out of a hat, and the improv begins. When one is read out, the trio ask if anyone in the audience would like to confess, which, if you ask me, you should definitely do. The comedians are lively, quick-witted and unphased by a tough crowd as they run through the scenarios \u2013 from the outrageously terrible to the terribly outrageous<\/p>\n
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A Fringe full of people and you still bump into your ex<\/p>\n
4. Trainspotting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
One word: unreal. This show is another immersive experience, beginning before you\u2019ve even stepped in the room. Performed at the EICC this year, fellow Edinburgh students might have to confront the trauma they\u2019ve faced there during exam seasons, but I promise it\u2019s well worth it for a show as exceptional as this. I\u2019ve seen the film Trainspotting before and I was flawed. For those who haven\u2019t watched it, I\u2019d recommend seeing it first to enhance your experience. Like all the best bits of theatre, it starts you off with laugh-out-loud comedy and then, whilst you\u2019re too busy cackling to see what\u2019s coming, they hit you where it hurts. It\u2019s hilarious, visceral and relentless. I feel obliged to give you a trigger warning however, you must be prepared to see things you\u2019ll never unsee. It\u2019s a genuinely sensational piece of theatre, worth far more than the \u00a322 the ticket costs. Oh, and a cheeky tip: sit by the toilet if you want a real treat x<\/p>\n
5. Sitting in George Square\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The transformation of George Square from a barren wasteland with the occasional patch of grass to a thriving social hub is quite astonishing. It\u2019s packed with bars, food vans and strange people in strange costumes interacting with the general public. Even if you don\u2019t want to go to a Fringe show (which in my opinion would be a big mistake) you can at least grab a drink there and soak up the atmosphere. Simply walking around the Fringe is an activity in itself as you fight off people thrusting flyers upon you left, right and centre. I even had a little go for myself \u2013 I tell you now, five minutes of this will give you some sympathy to the flyers you previously dedicated time to artfully dodging. That job is bloody brutal. If you\u2019re ever in need of rejection therapy, you know where to find it. The Fringe is truly an unmissable experience. However you choose to spend your time there, just go. It\u2019ll be a memorable day, likely in more ways than one\u2026<\/p>\n
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Hello there sexy x<\/p>\n
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