Greatest Ever Late ’n’ Live review – a welcome hit of Edinburgh standup
about 5 years in The guardian
YouTubeFootage of Dara Ó Briain, Sarah Millican, John Bishop and Jason Byrne features in this attempt to recapture the mythic status of a renowned fringe night
Greatest Ever Late ’n’ Live, they’re calling this anthology of clips from the legendary Edinburgh night. But can something so mythical be captured on camera? The greatest Late ’n’ Lives, those you-had-to-be-there nights when artist spontaneity and audience savagery made magical sparks together, were always over before you heard about them. Late ’n’ Live has never been as good as it used to be.
If there was ever a heyday, it was probably before anyone thought to film it. The Gilded Balloon, in lieu of an actual festival this year, is releasing these compilations weekly. The oldest footage on its first edition was from 2001, and features Dara Ó Briain – with hair! – riffing on hot Aussie weather and the Irish aversion to swimming. Most of the performances are from the last 10 to 15 years, by which point Late ’n’ Live was one of many late-night cabarets at the fringe, and no longer the one that everybody talked about. Continue reading...
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