"It frequently leaves you gaping in astonishment – when you're not busy laughing that is." Holly Williams reviews ventriloquist Nina Conti's new show.
Prepare to have your mind warped. By monkeys. Nina Conti has long been respected as one of the most skilful comedians on the circuit; her ventriloquism is not only technically impressive but very funny too. And she's got a nice line in meta-comedy – her puppets will keep naughtily commenting on their own inanimate status and that their voice is, in fact, hers.
Conti's got four characters to pull out of their bags: old friend Monkey, a grumbling creature who allows Conti to be rather rude to the front row; Owl, a poetry-spouting luvvie; Grandma, a very sweet Edinburghian, plus a decidedly less sweet old lady who takes umbridge with the accent Conti's given her and demands a new one. With all of these puppets, her delivery is technically flawless, and she consistently pushes at the boundaries of her art. She bravely improvises with Monkey, taking suggestions from the audience for jokes and playing word association, which, as Monkey puts it, is when 'you say a word and then I say the first thing that comes into your head'. She swaps voices with one of her puppets - so she speaks as an old lady and they have Conti's real voice, which is frankly a total head spinner. She somehow also manages to sing along with Grandma, doing both voices at the same time, while drinking a glass of water.
It frequently leaves you gaping in astonishment – when you're not busy laughing that is, because Conti's wit is quick enough to make the improv really work. Her puppets give her an excuse to be bad, and she can be quite cruel to her hapless audience members, insulting their jobs or choice of attire. Throughout, Conti as herself is all giggly, apparantly surprised at the things her cheeky puppets come up with, always tossing her lustrous locks over her face in apparent shame, or indulgently apologising for her creations. This could get annoying, but the whole thing is so damn slick and believable, you feel Conti could get away with anything.
Or maybe not. What seems like the most audacious – and successful –part of her show I later find out is a set up. Her final puppets are us: the audience. Conti drags up a couple of people from the crowd, and puts a half-face monkey mask on them. She has a string attached the lower part of the jaw, which she manipulates to make her victim talk, giving them some outrageous and embarrassing things to say, to the delight of the audience. It's hard to explain just how very funny and very effective this was, especially when she put the words 'I love to dance, I really want to dance' into one poor punter's monkey-mouth. Shame then, that his subsequent boogie was staged: a friend who went the next night reported exactly the same person, with exactly the same dance moves. A stooge seems unnecessary – she's surely got enough talent to make it work with a stranger.
Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand is at the Plesance Dome until 30th August at 8:30pm.
Return to the Edinburgh Fringe homepage
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...