Jim Rose Circus

Prepare the mind bleach – Jim Rose is back in town!  It’s been 10 years since his last show in Edinburgh as he didn’t want to return until he’d managed to top his previous effort.  If this is the better show then I shudder to think what horrors were unearthed the last time Rose was in town.

The show is loud, crude and brash, but to be fair it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.  All that really matters is that it entertains.  However, I felt that any entertainment that could have been wrung from such a show was overlooked in the quest for shock value.  There are definitely some sights which will stay with me but I can’t see the longevity in such a show.  It’s not the type of thing I imagine you go back to over and over again.

And exactly how shocking is the show?  Horror films which play on torture are proving a big hit in the cinemas and this show seems strangely antiquated in light of this – is it the case that we’re simply getting used to seeing this kind of thing?  It also plays as deeply misogynistic, with emaciated women wandering around the stage naked, shaking their bits and bobs and inserting or expelling items from various orifices.  Although I suppose this is counterbalanced to some extent by a male member and a raccoon trap.

It’s the type of show that you should probably see once in your life just so you can form an opinion of it.  For me, once was enough.

**

Di

Fringe Programme Page No

p208

Company

Jim Rose

Venue Name and Number

Udderbelly's Pasture   V300    (f48)

Dates and Times

31st  to  25th  August  23:45  to  01:00

Comedy 2008

Music 2008

Others 2008

Theatre 2008

Musicals 2008

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