Frankenstein Pub
Aug 22-28 (12:00)
In Omnia Paratus
It is clear that Helen Prior is a lover of life, a vigorous explorer of all it has to offer, including her recent entry into the world of comedy performance. Not your classic comedian by any means, Helen is an educator at heart, & after an hour with her sophisticated confessional comedy at this year’s Fringe, one can only feel both entertain’d & culturally enrich’d. For example when she show’d me Putin’s ancesteor in a Van Eyck 1422 AD painting was well cool, like, I’ve already put it up on facebook.
Her show is call’d Sex, Art and the Art of Survival, & is a blend of biocom & art history talk, complete with well-pixelated images of the paintings she discusses. Dali is there, Gainsborough is there, & there’s also loads of stuff I’ve never seen or heard off before – its a visual & fibre-filling treat really.
On top of this noble platform, Helen also possesses spoonfuls of rampant sexual energy, & at the heart of her show we are treated to a lengthy pictorial series of vaginas & penises. She must have used the word cun! about 10 times in a minute or two – in the UK normally someone would say it once, then look around briefly & awkwardly to which social division each person has gravitated towards following the bringing of the profane elephant into the room, before realising they might actually have to apologise. Not Helen, tho’ she’s more than happy to use the word, & why the hell not?
As a spectator I thought the start was a little off, perhaps showtime nerves, or perhaps it was my brain getting a grasp on her Russian accent. She’s a very eloquent lady, but it took me a while to feel her true resonance – like when I finally understood Rabbie Burns, once I’d penetrated his lowland Scots, was in fact an absolute genius. But come the middle of Sex, Art and the Art of Survival, I was really flowing along with the show, right before it took a somewhat darker turn when Helen found herself battling ovarian cancer.
But, & blessingly, she won, & here she is now in Edinburgh, sharing her story & winning our hearts. After the performance, Helen talk’d about cancer with some of her departing audience, a really nice touch, & I can see how Helen’s victory over the disease will be inspirational to others.
Helen is a great presence & an entertaining watch to boot – pure Fringe cocktail, chaperoning many interesting ingredients into her performance art. Full of erections & ressurection, altho’ Sex, Art and the Art of Survival is not the funniest – yet – comedy show around this year, it is certainly the most cultural one I’ve seen, & for that I applaud you Helen. After only one year with Thalia, you’re off to a great start,
Damo
Mumble Comedy 