Aviemore comedy festival hits the heights
Alas the snow never arrived for the MV Festival but Mr Frankie Boyle did.
Scotland’s very own version of Shock and Awe was a surprise addition on both Friday and Saturday night to the Mountain and Valley Festival’s comedy bill.
One of Boyle’s early observations was that if you wanted Peter Kay and Dairylea triangle nostalgia, then you’d come to the wrong show.
And he wasn’t kidding; sensibilities had to be checked in at the door.
With a terrific line-up of Andrew Maxwell, Ed Byrne, Boyle, and all weaved together by Devon’s most famous Canadian, Craig Campbell, who recently finished his debut UK stand-up tour, it was never going to be a night for the faint-hearted.
It’s a quartet that would easily sell-out big, big venues in the centre of Edinburgh and Glasgow, so to have them here in the strath - brought together by their love of skiing and sliding - was a real treat for comedy fans.
There had been early sightings of Boyle in the Colyumbridge venue on Friday afternoon, and his appearance helped to ensure that on Saturday night there was a packed audience at the Hilton hotel.
And the stand-up comic - contrary to his media portrayal - proved he has a big heart by performing for free with his mates for the charity gig.
With clipboard in hand given his last minute show, his routine was a mixture of new and old.
Many may have been left scratching their heads on who exactly Shannon Matthews is - she was making headlines four years ago after-all after being stashed away in the attic by her family in an incredibly poor bungled ransom kidnap attempt.
This enigma may have accounted for the unnecessary early unease in the seats - certainly given what was to follow - which Boyle clearly enjoyed feeding off.
You ain’t heard nothing yet, he warned them, and he wasn’t wrong.
He probably would have been lynched on the Isle of Lewis for one part of his act.
The recent misery at Ibrox did not escape his attention, as he said how much he was enjoying being in Glasgow at the moment. One half is really happy, the other is really miserable. It’s like Glasgow’s had a stroke.
Boyle was in teacher training before his comedy calling; now there’s one teacher you wouldn’t dare answer back.
Campbell was a great host interspersing the three sets with some top notch observational humour on all things Scottish, brought from over the Atlantic by a man who has a Scottish mother and so knows how to pronounce "Edinburgh".
One of his best pieces was on Jesus as the man in the street banning TV, ferries and fun on Sundays in the Western Isles; it’s alright for him he can walk back to the mainland.
Campbell also had his own unique take on pasties and the friendly late night natives to be found on the capital’s streets. There were also worthy mentions for Dalwhinnie and the unforgiving deadly A9 - where Scotland really starts, he said.
Kicking the night off was Andrew Maxwell who is not one to pull any punches. The 5' 6" high pugilist from Dublin was no fan of the SNP and a seat for him at Holyrood would certainly give Alex Salmond a lot more to worry about than the First Minister has now.
Interestingly not one Nationalist - wisely - tried to heckle him.
There was nothing Maxwell, a keen snowboarder and Hibs fan, did not have an opinion on. His time in Aviemore showed why he had been shortlisted for the best show at last year’s Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Finishing off three and a half hours of top comedy was Munro bagger and TGO contributor Ed Byrne, no stranger to these parts having performed in Kingussie a couple of times.
Gorgeous "Fisher Price-itution", five tips on a certain T-shirt slogan sported by a young teen boy, why I hate agnostics and Ed on the slopes was just some of it.
He also had time to put down a "joker" who threw a couple of gunpowder caps onto the stage.
The same had been done earlier in the evening to Maxwell who was clearly unnerved and literally feared dying a death on the stage by being electrocuted.
Byrne harangued the wannabe jester into revealing his identity. He may be a self-confessed weakling but Ed is no man you’d want to pick a verbal battle with. The silence in response was deafening.
The irony of performing at a ski festival without snow was not lost on any of the ski and snowboard fans Bryne, Maxwell and Campbell but their love for the sport and Scotland shone through.
Campbell - who had travelled further than anyone with his board to hit the Scottish slopes - was keen to come back.
He said he hoped they would next year.
Fingers-crossed the organisers can make it happen again.
The revellers' big smiles said it all as they sloped off - even if it was from the Hilton Coylumbridge Hotel rather than CairnGorm Mountain.
The four entertainers are off to Mayrhofen in Austria at the end of next month to perform at the fifth "Altitude" comedy festival of which Maxwell is a co-founder.
Here’s some good news for them . . . there’s plenty of snow there.
