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Gilded Balloon Teviot
Aug 10-28 (20.30)

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Blonde-haired Grant Buse is an Australian comedian who writes songs as part of his show ‘SentiMental’ & is performing at the Fringe Festival’s grand Gilded Balloon Teviot venue as part of his extensive European travels as a musical/comedian

We settled into a set of songs about just about everything in existence (just about), with lyrics rattling along to his melodic guitar. The air was heavy with a need for enjoyment and he soon had heckling to deal with. But keeping up the heart of kindness he stared into the dark and smiled wisely.

Grant stands on the very pulse of the zeitgeist & pours emotional content into a show in which he is very much personally involved. Being an experienced & widely-flung performer, his stage mannerisms – every quirky look, smile and laugh – were keenly timed. Manoeuvre after manoeuvre he had all the levers of comedy on the go, skilfully guiding us along worldly and down-to-earth deliberations that were cut to fine humour

He had a very relaxed approach to performances, even though at times he was riling the audience to really laugh at his absurdity. As things rolled along, the set started to become fabulous, & we were now connecting with Grant as both a comedian & a human being. His songs numbered many, & he even brought a poor member of the audience to sing along to Halleluiah by Leonard Cohen with him.

Then of a sudden he shouted death and disappeared into the darkened stage… are we to applaud yet, we asked quietly? Not quite. He ran back on in full Mr Motivator body suit and began a skit of dancing to free-flowing songs we all knew from his favourite era the 1990s. Throughout this astonishing finale his dance moves and facial expressions were impeccable.

So, the show’s title, ‘SentiMental,’ was just that, a nostalgic exploration into life on this planet as it is seen today thro the eyes & galloping imagination of Grant Buse.

Daniel Donnelly