Nige from student mag ‘The New Current’ had some fantastic things to say about South African duo The Brothers Streep. You can read about them in this FOUR STAR review!

The Brothers Streep

****

The New Current

A South African duo The Brothers Street bring a new style and fresh ideas to the now very popular music/comedy shows at The Fringe. Their show was in a small overly hot room at Gilded Balloon and their show had the audience in stitches and at one point swaying. They won over the crowd and one thing was certain The Brother’s Streep are fast becoming a 2010 fringe favourite.

Their music was more creative and smoothly written than some of the other acts like theirs at the fringe. With topics ranging from a song about Disney Princess to their Ode to Anna Paquin the Brothers where really able to show the audience what they where about and just where their music and comedy where coming from. Their Anna Paquin song was actually sung to Anna when she was on The Graham Norton Show and they have been building up an international following ever since.

Musical comedy isn’t easy to do and some of the acts that we have seen have either been able to do it, and do it will, whilst others have been somewhat lacklustre. This, I have deduced, is down to the performers ability to write songs that are simply songs that can stand up on their own. The badder of these types of shows are like poets who write a poem but try to hard to make it rhyme. That’s like music comedy, it doesn’t have to have punchlines and such in every line.

Simon and Dylan manage to make their songs stand up as songs, they are well written, wonderfully accompanied by their acoustic guitar strumming, and performed with a good humour. One of the highlights of the show came from their Pirates themed four minute opera which was amazing, and when Simon came into the audience and sat in the front row and got the whole audience to sway, was pretty ace to see!

Their comedy did sometimes play second fiddle to their music and their performances together. Unlike their songs their jokes or sketches in-between was more conversation than stand up and they remained funny and engaging – and at times rather sweet. Towards the end of their show they tell us a story about how they got to come to the Fringe on the back of the Anna Paquin song, a New Zealand springfree trampoline company agreed to sponsor them if they wrote them as song. Looking at their flyer the guys didn’t lie.

‘This was a fringe debut from a duo who really knew how much it meant to them to be able to perform at the Fringe festival. They gave the show their all with great songs and beautiful banter these guys really know how to make an impression. The Brothers Streep are a music comedy duo like no other!’

The Brothers Streep are performing at the Gilded Balloon at 6.15 everyday. You can buy tickets for their show here.

Another 5 star review for Des Bishops new show! This one comes from Chortle. Here’s what reviewer Julia Chamberlain had to say about Des’ performance.

‘My Dad Was Nearly James Bond’

*****

In recent years there’s been a fashion for misery memoirs about impoverished childhood blighted by neglect, abuse and absentee parents. This joyful show is the polar opposite of all that and will make your spirit soar as you laugh your socks off and feel your heart squeezed.

This is a show about family, growing up and dealing with life’s big moments; it packs an emotional punch  and yet will keep you rocking with laughter.

Des Bishop’s  film-star looks come straight from dad, Mike, who could not have made a worse job of  James Bond than George Lazenby did, but  was denied the opportunity. A successful model and small-time actor, he invested in his family’s future rather than his own ego by abandoning  his acting dream, swapping the precariousness of movies for the security of retail. And the three Bishop sons behaved like any other family group, moving from  hero worship to mockery once their hormones began to fizz.  Much of the humour comes not only from the family stories but the astute observations of national personality traits.

We are treated to a race through Mike Bishop’s life, excellently illustrated with photos and film clips and illuminated by Des’s affectionate but not over-respectful commentary. The laughs are paused, but not halted, by the news of that Bishop Snr was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in November. And this is where Des Bishop’s emotional intelligence and humanity take the story from the specific tale of his dad’s life to the universal problem of how we behave when we confront the reality of our parents’ mortality.

It’s a club which we all join eventually, but it’s also an experience which is rarely talked about before it’s too late.  This show confronts that annihilating pain without sentimentality or histrionics and left this audience whooping and cheering in celebration of the guy who was never James Bond.

Des Bishop’s control of the room is outstanding, he radiates warmth and energy but is never needy or puppyish, this a mature, controlled, humane and above all dazzlingly funny show.

Des Bishop is performing at the Assembly Rooms on George St at 8.05 every night. You can buy tickets here.

Ruth Johnston from ‘Three Weeks‘ magazine seems very impressed by Des Bishops current Edinburgh show. Here’s what she had to say about it.

‘My Dad Was Nearly James Bond’

***** Three Weeks

Comedy meets the tragic circumstances of life in Des Bishop’s routine, which pays tribute to his father – a nearly James Bond of yesteryear. Now suffering from lung cancer, Bishop’s dad is the inspiration for an unusual, deeply moving and very funny exploration of the complex relationship between fathers and sons. Initially I was taken aback by Bishop’s slightly aggressive delivery, but soon this masculine veneer slips as he reminisces about his childhood to a backdrop of fascinating photographs that earmark the highs and lows of their relationship. It’s rare that I leave comedy with tears in my eyes inspired by a deeper emotion than amusement. Indeed the depth of Bishop’s story ensured a deserved standing ovation.

Assembly@George Street, 5 – 29 Aug (not 23), 8.05pm, £11.00 – £14.00,