Hate to come across like a broken record but in a world packed with division, rancour and extremism, can allowing ourselves to have a good laugh help, albeit temporarily? Well, let’s hope so as we’ve dedicated a lot of pages this issue to a comedy special. The core of it is the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which spreads its funny tentacles across the mag, from main features on Shetland storyteller Marjolein Robertson and the female comics who recommend the one show that they simply have to see during the festival, and on to our Bar Files contributor (Pierce Higgins) and the brilliant subject of our Back Q&A (Sue Perkins . . . don’t call her Susan: it sends a chill down her spine).
We also interview TV’s Judi Love and adlibber extraordinaire Jiavani ahead of the Edinburgh International Improv Festival, and pick out 26 acts (again, a men-free zone that one) hitting the road between now and the end of 2026. The Gilded Saloon gets two bites at the coverage cherry, one looking at its eating and drinking culture, the other a review of the monthly Story Platform night.
But of course, it’s not all about laughing our heads off (or at least offering a gentle grin and emitting a quiet chuckle); there’s some serious stuff going on in this issue, too. Such as memories of WWII which were passed on to Kazuo Ishiguro, bureaucratic evil in Two Prosecutors (directed by Ukrainian Sergei Loznitsa and set in Stalin’s Soviet Union), a podcast about the Post Office scandal and the gruesome crimes investigated by Harry Hole in the Netflix series based on Jo Nesbø’s bloodcurdling novels. Admittedly, our writer had quite a blast hooking up with the nu-jazz hip-hop success story that is Kai Reesu, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
‘Laugh, and the world laughs with you,’ jovially rings the line from that poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Other laughter-based sayings are available such as the one about the person who laughs last doing so for a longer time than those who laughed earlier in the same sequence of events; being a laughing stock (that sounds painful but it’s also the title of a great Talk Talk album); and laughter being the best medicine (well, sure, apart from all those really effective actual medicines). Still, not totally certain about putting Wilcox’s line to the test in public. Also worth noting that the next line in this poem, titled ‘Solitude’, is ‘Weep, and you weep alone.’ Bit of a downer.
Brian Donaldson EDITOR
Laidlaw
Santini
Afreka Thomson, Brian Donaldson, Carol Main, Claire Sawers, Danny Munro, Dom Czapski, Dominic Corr, Ellie Carr, Emma Simmonds, Evie Glen, Fiona Shepherd, Isy Santini, James Mottram, Jay Richardson, Jay Thundercliffe, Jennifer McLaren, Jo Laidlaw, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Ribchester, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, Mark Fisher, Murray Robertson, Neil Cooper, Peter Ross, Rachel Morrell, Rob Adams, Suzy Pope, Vic Galloway, Zara Janjua
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mouthpiece
As One Piece continues its unlikely campaign of global domination via Netflix, our columnist Kevin Fullerton considers anime’s earlier growing pains and explores how the form’s regeneration still battles against antiquated attitudes
If you’re over the age of 25, understanding the significance of One Piece’s live action adaptation, which enters its second season this month, is like trying to fathom the supposed charisma of KSI. The buoyant anime about a gang of pirates has been an astonishing smash, pervading the world in ways that its creators couldn’t have imagined; like Guy Fawkes’ ever-smiling mask in V For Vendetta, the pirate flag in One Piece has even become an unlikely symbol of resistance at protest marches.
Having dipped my toes into anime’s waters over the past decade, the medium’s transcendence into the global mainstream seems implausible at best. When I was a teenager, admitting that you enjoyed Akira or Nausicaä was social suicide. It meant that you were partial to watching animated tentacles go up ladies’ bums, and there was a high likelihood you stank of Wotsits and were prone to grumbling in public parks. All that social stigma because you rented Spirited Away from Blockbuster? Not worth the hassle.
At exactly this time, my teenage consciousness was being flooded with Japanese culture. Metal Gear Solid merged highstakes espionage with Ghost In The Shell-inspired manga madness. Final Fantasy used European steampunk aesthetics as a backdrop for beautifully coifed anime lads belting each other with giant swords. Americans were clamouring for Godzilla to splat them underfoot like a scaly dominatrix, and Tarantino was
MWe’ll admit it: some months are trickier than others when it comes to finding cultural artefacts and people to include in this letterbased round-up. This time around, it’s not so much of an imbroglio. First up, a quick mention of bands and artists who have new music out or have just announced tours: Mildred, Megadeth, Maria BC, MX Lonely and Mandy, Indiana are but five. In TV land, Michelle Pfeiffer stars in The Madison, yet another Montana-set Yellowstone spinoff (Matthew Fox aka him from Lost is also in it) while everyone’s favourite secretive Mormon wives are back in the obscurely titled The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion
co-opting gore-tacular anime sequences for his Kill Bill duology. Yet Studio Ghibli, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Satoshi Kon still faced an uphill battle with western audiences who couldn’t imagine that anyone other than ten-year-olds would gawp at cartoons.
Meanwhile, blockbuster entertainment from the west was usually thuddingly ignorant in its portrayal of Japan. The Harajuku Girls, Gwen Stefani’s back-up dance quartet, was one of the more cringe-inducing examples, while almost every American sitcom contained a cheap punchline about byzantine Japanese toilets. But these missteps were the byproduct of an age still lagging behind globalisation, where encountering another culture produced a bemused ‘what’s going on here?’ kind of fascination.
That same fascination exists today, endowed with a mite more knowledge and respect. Films such as Suzume, Your Name and The Boy And The Heron have done the medium proud, and the revenue generated by One Piece could easily feed a small nation. That’s not to say anime isn’t without its problems; many studios’ nauseating attitudes towards their female characters still play squarely towards the Japanese salaryman crowd and no one else. But jumping those chasms opens a world of complex, narratively rich stories (particularly Kon’s peerless Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers and Perfect Blue) with heart, soul and pinballing imaginations.
publishes Gravity Archives, a new collection which remembers ‘other selves and people now out of reach’. And finally, this opening paragraph from an article in The Guardian feels almost tailored for this page: ‘If you were to guess where Madonna goes on holiday, you might think Mustique or the Maldives: Margate probably would not make the list.’ As unsubtly hinted at there, the Kent coast is exactly where she headed recently to hang out with Tracey Emin and the thriving artistic community there. If she’s on a UK tour of seaside delights of the same letter, we’d like to encourage Queen Madge to head north and pop into Maybole, Montrose or Mallaig
PICTURE: DISNEY-FRED HAYES
Mormons Margate
PlayList
Spring into the March issue with this specially curated musical soundtrack, featuring songs from Kai Reesu, Geese, Cardiacs, Andrew Wasylyk, Walter Smith III, Isa Gordon, Ethel Cain and many more
Scan and listen as you read:
wholesome pics of the month
Honestly, you wait ages for one press picture of a singer flying through the air, then two come at once. This may well be the only thing that connects Annabelle Chairlegs and Leo Sayer but they are truly bonded by magical aerial endeavours when it comes to their most recent publicity shots. New Jersey-raised and Austin, Texas-based, Ms Chairlegs has just released a new album, Waking Up, and is due to play Psych Fests in her adopted town as well as Manchester (will she be dropping in on Edinburgh’s version, too?) while the legend that is Leo jets off for his final tour in the autumn and publishes his debut memoir, Just A Boy.
In this series of articles, we turn the focus back on ourselves by asking folk at The List about cultural artefacts that touch their heart and soul. This time around, Evie Glen tells us which things . . .
Made me cry: As a film about filmmaking, Sentimental Value risked being the kind of self-important art piece that’s void of any compelling story. It wasn’t. It was quietly poetic, subtle and so convincingly human that everyone in my cinema row left bleary-eyed.
Made me angry: The closure of the CCA is a heartbreaking loss to Glasgow. Unaware of the dire financial state, staff held the centre together out of love and against-the-odds faith. That these workers have now been entirely abandoned, strung along until sudden redundancy, is just cruel.
Made me laugh: I spent Burns-eve in the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall revelling in a bizarre variety performance following the licentious life of Mr Burns. The highlight was an oddly moving chorus of ‘I Belong To Glasgow’ by a choir of blootered pensioners: the kind Billy Connolly imitates in his bit about singing Scotsmen.
Made me think: It’s difficult to read the seminal work of a genre as oversaturated as science fiction and not find it antiquated by the clichés that came later. Yet short story ‘The Machine Stops’ feels uncannily contemporary. I have never read sci-fi so beautifully written while so accurately capturing our technocratic age. And Forster did it in 1909!
Made me think twice: I saw Naima Bock play a wonderfully whimsical set at The Hug And Pint and have since realised she is also one quarter of Goat Girl. I’ve been listening back to their 2024 album Below The Waste with all its darker, punkier eclecticism.
Marjolein Robertson has taken a long road to recognition and respect in the stand-up game but the rewards are now arriving at a rapid rate. Firing the starting pistol on our comedy special, Claire Sawers speaks to this storytelling Shetlander, an abuse survivor whose work is informed by folktales, language and therapy >>
Some of those stories almost broke me “
Ilearned a new word from Marjolein Robertson’s stand-up. In fact, the Shetland comedian often teaches her audiences plenty of fascinating things: about wiccan curses, astral projection, moon phases, rare illnesses or how to shift sheep from one field to another, for example. In her sold-out Fringe show Marj, part one in a trilogy, with O and Lein following thereafter, she tells a story involving the word ‘shoormal’. A gorgeous bit of Shetland dialect, it means a sacred place, such as the part of the beach where the waves lap; neither land nor sea. It’s more than just the wrack line, where seaweed and driftwood often gather at high tide; it’s a transient spot, a shifting boundary. Similarly, Robertson’s work exists in the liminal space between storytelling and standup, ebbing and flowing freely from oddball whimsy to emotion-plumbing depths. A curious, magnetic hybrid of the esoteric, the spiritual and the mundane, Robertson is both down to earth and wired to the moon.
In broad brushstrokes, Marj is a show about the mind, O the body and Lein the soul, and Robertson will perform parts two and three of the trilogy over
consecutive evenings as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Like a mermaid luring in sailors, Robertson draws her audience into Marj with bubbly, strange tales of studying seamanship at school, playing fiddle and taking acid, before dropping the stage lights and sliding into Scots folklore about selkies. Robertson weaves and slithers around a tale of shapeshifting mythical creatures, while slowly unveiling that she was once in an emotionally abusive relationship.
‘I use folktale as a metaphor,’ she says over Zoom from her part-time home in London. Lerwick-born Robertson was a Leither until last year but now splits her time between Shetland and England. ‘Folktale carries the burden. I don’t have to talk about specific things. Folktales are a safe analogy. It was a wall that meant I only had to deal with it onstage. Bits of Marj were written with help from a therapist.’
Her gradual reveal, like the metaphorical frog in the saucepan of boiling water, surfaces as an unsettling twist, bobbing up among the chirpy quirks and pally jokes. Audiences loved her potion of punchlines and personal
narrative, and in 2023 Marj became her breakthrough show at the Fringe. Beneath the fairytale flourishes, fabulously nerdy details and weird party girl shtick was a strong undertow of real emotions, paced to sneak up stealthily.
‘I remember one comment afterwards,’ she recalls, pausing to whisper with a knowing, impish twinkle in her eye, ‘which happened to be from a man . . . he said my show was “slow and unfunny and it got sad”. That’s because I had a responsibility to deal with something carefully. I also had a lot of abuse survivors reach out afterwards. The messages were incredible but sometimes overwhelming. Some of those stories almost broke me. One mam and her 19-year-old child came up and gave me hugs afterwards; she’d had a coercive partner and the show helped her child understand why she couldn’t leave them at the time.’
The positive feedback inspired Robertson to continue in this vein of wisdom-sharing with her audiences, still blending in ancient oral traditions and, of course, her unique, strange humour. ‘O is the story of my long battle with adenomyosis and I wanted to teach as many people as I could about
the condition. I’m a comedian so ultimately there will be jokes in it. But it’s comedy and it’s my story. With Lein I’ve found a new path.’
That path happens to take Robertson on an impulsive self-discovery trip to Amsterdam (her mum is Dutch) where she finds unlikely help from a group of nuns and an improv troupe. In her real-life adventure, she gets fired from a restaurant and all her possessions are nicked when her flat gets burgled.
Of course, the trilogy contains other spellbinding tales; we hear of a benevolent creature called the sea ‘midder’ (Shetland dialect for mother) and learn about the dream weavers, one of Robertson’s ‘favourite stories in the whole world’, about a young girl who goes out to pick berries, gets lost and winds up interpreting dreams. ‘She finds her own path out of the mist. She finds something unexpected and I kind of wrote Lein as the story of how I got into comedy.’
Fans will be delighted to hear that Robertson’s own story arc has recently been bending in a very positive way: Lein closes with ‘What If’, a track written for her by her new partner, musician Jack Bowden from indie folk trio Tors. She recently posted a clip on her Instagram of the pair playing tunes inside a snow fort: her on fiddle, him on banjo. ‘Marj involved me getting sad onstage every day. I had to take a bit of time out after that Fringe. I had a lot of chats about finding your own peace. Sometimes that simply means not texting emotionally unavailable boys! My flatmate and I kept a scoreboard about spice boys. We’d drink tea and chat about finding contentment, being enough, not hiding from growth. Just as I was talking about letting go and trusting someone, by a weird coincidence Jack wrote that song for me about letting go.’
Although redemption and serenity often don’t make for good belly laughs onstage, have no fear: Robertson makes sure her shows (post-therapy and with added soul searching) remain very funny. She believes in ‘shelving the sad stuff until a time when you are ready to talk about it. I think only the vainest person thinks they can make everyone laugh. My shows have jokes but it’s not that kind of non-stop gag, gag, gag style you’d get from other comedians. For me, stand-up is an artform. I take incredible care over the details, from my hairstyles to the lighting and music. I drop in little easter eggs, play birdsong, write in poetry and symbolism. I’m wondering if I can start incorporating my music in there somehow too . . . ’
And there you have it. A comedian equally likely to teach you about menstrual health, talk about seeing into other dimensions or break into a reel on the fiddle. To paraphrase the wonderful Garth Marenghi . . . Marjolein Robertson: comedian, dream weaver, visionary.
Marjolein Robertson: O, Òran Mór, Tuesday 17 March; Lein, Òran Mór, Wednesday 18 March; Marjolein Is On Holiday, Flying Duck, Saturday 21 March; all shows part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
All made up
AAs a headliner at this year’s Edinburgh International Improv Festival, Jiavani is an experienced adlibber who trusts in the process and lives in the moment. She tells Rachel Morrell that gravitating towards ‘fellow weirdos’ is a major part of the fun
regular in the cobbled streets of Edinburgh’s comedy scene, Jiavani has a sparkling resumé to match her personality. Appearing in hits such Between Two Ferns: The Movie, this LA-based comic and drag king has never been con ned to the camera lens, describing a formative love of stage performance. ‘I did my rst play when I was ten. It was a really big production of a play in this 2000-seat amphitheatre in the Paci c Northwest. I was one of the kids that ran behind the ock of sheep and I thought that was the most special, amazing thing. I always wanted to act a er that. It was fun to nd improv in junior high, and then to keep doing it in high school and as an adult; it’s the thing that I never wanted to stop doing.’
Jiavani is a dab hand at making quick wit look easy in streaming shows such as and Some Noise, capturing moments that tap into the current comedy and social climate. ‘I went into my rst drag king appearance with an idea of my aesthetic, which was going to be Motown suave, old-fashioned, smooth. When I stepped on stage, something came over me. As as TV’s Dead To Me and Jesus Of Nazareth play c sheep
Very Important People Make
a woman, I often feel kind of imprisoned by making other people feel comfortable. But as a drag king, that requirement was lifted. It felt like I was allowed to be angry. I did throw an octopus at the judges and people freaked out. But I was like, yeah, good. It gave me an opportunity to channel an emotion I really need to access.’
Jiavani believes that this ability to use intuitive reactions is a key ingredient in good improvisation. With more experienced improvisers, she feels it’s about being in the moment and trusting that it will still be funny. ‘There’s even more gravitas to the comedy because you’re allowing truth to exist in it. I did a show in San Francisco where my scene partner, who I’ve performed with for maybe ten years, came on and was like “hey, this is my girlfriend” and I went “we don’t have labels!” just because I didn’t feel a romantic connection between our characters. Now, if you’re starting improv, there are rules like “don’t deny” and “say yes”. But at this point, I can make choices that break those rules. I can shut it down and then razz him a little about how we’re homies, how he’s blowing it out of proportion and get a big laugh from the audience. I wasn’t trying to get a laugh, I was only behaving authentically.’
Taking the stage at Edinburgh International Improv Festival
this year, after sold-out runs of Fringe favourites Baby Wants Candy and Shamilton, it seems that this genuine connection is something Jiavani will continue to find on and off stage.
‘I love Edinburgh; it’s just such an enchanting and welcoming city. There were times where I would improvise a song and then later I would hear people singing the chorus on the sidewalk with their friends. That blew me away. I never thought that was something I would experience because when you’re caught in the moment you don’t remember the songs you’re making up on the spot.’
Appearing as a headliner as well as in workshops at Monkey Barrel across the course of the festival, Jiavani hopes to find connection through laughter. ‘It’s a time of friendship and different types of comedy. I am a very community-minded person, so I love the collaboration. It’s a way to express myself but also to find fellow weirdos through people’s art. I get to experience their humour and see how it mixes with mine. I don’t know how I would find my people without it.’
Jiavani appears at Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, in Tongue & Groove on Saturday 7 March and in The Final Beat on Sunday 8 March; both events are part of Edinburgh International Improv Festival which runs from Thursday 5–Sunday 8 March.
Fellow travellers
We asked a bunch of female comics to name the show at Glasgow Comedy Festival (other than their own) that they’re most excited about: here’s the pick of their peers
ALEX STRINGER
I saw Rosa Garland’s show at the Edinburgh Fringe and it was everything. Such note-perfect comedy. The show was so playful, creative and thought provoking. Rosa had the whole audience in the palm of her hand and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Alex Stringer, Admiral Woods, Saturday 14 March; Rosa Garland, The Old Hairdresser’s, Wednesday 11 March.
BELLA HUMPHRIES
My pick is Marjolein Robertson’s Marjolein Is On Holiday
A er her back-to-back trilogy of shows, I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes next. Will this show continue with her usual blend of comedy, storytelling and folklore? Will this be something entirely new? Is she just pranking us all and actually going on holiday? I for one am pumped to nd out.
Eliott Simpson platforms diversity with a year-long calendar of top comedy, bringing together performers from all backgrounds across Scotland and the UK. It’s a safe space for all, where I have never cackled harder at race jokes.
Ifrah Qureshi, Tennent’s Laughter Lounge, Saturday 14 March; Diversity Quota, The Social Hub, Saturday 14 March.
JAY LAFFERTY
It has to be Gareth Mutch’s Maybe Tomorrow. Gareth has pure funny bones. A brilliant storyteller, full of fun and nonsense. I’m going to be cheeky and sneak another recommendation in for Bene t For Lui as the best stand-ups in the country raise money for an awesome little boy.
Jay La erty, The Stand, Saturday 21 March; Gareth Mutch, The Stand, Saturday 14 March; Bene t For Lui, The Stand, Sunday 29 March.
JULIA SUTHERLAND
Commissioned has been my Festival fave for 13 years. Joyful/ thrilling/experimental: a cool, secret club you get to join for the night. Suggest a theme in advance and a brilliant line-up tackles the winner in wildly creative and hilarious ways. Disclaimer: I sign up yearly, panic-writing something unhinged last minute, but everyone else delivers gold.
Julia Sutherland, The Old Hairdresser’s, Saturday 28 March; Commissioned, The Stand, Sunday 22 March.
KAREN DUNBAR
My recommendation is Craig Hill. Firstly, because he’s always consistently funny and great with an audience but also cos Craig used to come and sing at my karaoke in Edinburgh in 1996 and 30 years on he’s still a magic guy.
I’m excited to see Dom McGovern. He makes me howl with laughter: lightning-fast jokes, a shit-hot persona and sensational crowd work. He’s proof you can put lipstick on a pig. He won’t mind me saying that because he loves Miss Piggy. He’s going to make a splash with this debut.
Katie Norris, The Old Hairdresser’s, Thursday 12 March; Dom McGovern, The Stand, Saturday 21 March.
KIM BLYTHE
I recommend Amanda Dwyer’s I Did Something Bad. It’s powerful, educational and hilarious. Women’s healthcare is sadly not spoken about enough and Amanda has a magical way of nding the light in the darkness of her own experience. Everyone should see it.
Kim Blythe, Citizens Theatre, Friday 20 March; Amanda Dwyer, The Stand, Sunday 22 March.
MADELEINE MUNFORD
I am most excited for Ryan Cullen’s Cullen Me So ly. Ryan writes dark humour with empathy and delivers it with a mischievous, playful energy that speaks to o en unspoken, relatable and shared truths amongst his audiences. His dark jokes aren’t simply for shocking an audience, but releasing shockwaves that resonate long a er his lively, unapologetic performances.
Madeleine Munford, Gael & Grain, Sunday 15 March; Ryan Cullen, Blackfriars, Thursday 12 March.
SABINA
I am looking forward to Sarah Bradley’s How To Write A Romcom I know Sarah so I know she writes meticulous shows but this one, being largely based on what the audience and characters will be on the night, makes me so curious. Her show from last year was phenomenal so this looks promising.
Sabina, Gael & Grain, Saturday 14 March; Sarah Bradley, Gael & Grain, Sunday 22 March.
SAM NICORESTI
Rosa Garland’s show was my favourite of the Fringe. Messy, masochistic and not for the prudish. It felt a bit like watching a clown at Torture Garden doing performance art about the eroticism of gunge. I’ve had this conversation a bunch and I think the British public have a libidinal fascination. Sam Nicoresti, The Old Hairdresser’s, Friday 13 March; Rosa Garland, The Old Hairdresser’s, Wednesday 11 March.
ZARA GLADMAN
I’m looking forward to Tim Key. Last year I accosted him in a London takeaway a er a night out. I told him: ‘I LOVE EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO!’ He thanked me, then we stood in silence, waiting for our respective orders. He doesn’t need a plug. This is an apology for being such an intense fan.
Zara Gladman, Rum Shack, Thursday 12 March; Tim Key, Tramway, Thursday 26–Saturday 28 March.
Show time: (l-r) Bella Humphries, Ifrah Qureshi, Sam Nicoresti, Katie Norris
OA natural-born performer, Judi Love is exploring empathy and connection with her new touring show. Zara Janjua hears from a comic who can cut through the sadness to bring audiences genuine joy
n the night we speak, Judi Love is just a few hours away from stepping on stage to begin the first leg of her new tour. She’s excited, and yawning. ‘Once I get on that stage, I’ll turn into Sasha Fierce!’ That contradiction feels fitting. Love’s comedy thrives in the messy overlap between exhaustion and joy, chaos and connection. And connection is the key word. Whether on television or on tour, she’s more interested in people than in punchlines.
Her new show, All About The Love, is imbued with the warmth and honesty that have made her one of the UK’s most beloved performers. After selling more than 30,000 tickets on her last tour, expectations are high, but Love’s focus remains simple: get on stage and make people feel good. Preparation, she says, is about calm. ‘Keeping myself relaxed, being prepared with my material and just being really chill.’
Before walking on, she carves out ten quiet minutes and cues up music; sometimes it’ll be gospel, sometimes it’s simply whoever is energising her that year. Tonight, it’s US rapper GloRilla, whose swagger, she assures me, helps her switch gears. Yet offstage, she remains disarmingly grounded. Her career in social care, long before TV fame arrived, shapes her approach, especially when things go offscript. Hecklers don’t rattle her; they intrigue her. ‘Maybe there’s something in their background that’s made them this way; or a neurodiversity,’ she says. That perspective gives her patience. ‘I had somebody the other
day shout out “can I get a picture Judi?” and I was like “yeah, when the show’s done sweetheart”. I think they just wanted witnesses.’
Life experience feeds the comedy too. Love famously lit up Strictly Come Dancing with a Sean Paul samba that became a pop culture moment in 2021. Her verdict now? ‘One day my grandkids will dig out that footage and get to see their grandma shaking her booty.’ Priceless, and entirely on brand. So too was her appearance on Loose Women’s historic all-black female panel the year before, a moment she hopes simply becomes normal rather than notable.
Stand-up, though, remains her first love. It’s where the emotional exchange is most direct. Recently, she performed a show the night before a close family member’s funeral. Heartbroken, she still stayed afterwards to meet fans. ‘If this moment here can bring joy to them and myself then it’s just such a blessing,’ she reflects. Comedy, for Love, is survival and service.
The new show explores empathy, relationships and the ways love can both guide and mislead us. From dating missteps to selfreflection, she talks about learning to spot warning signs or failing to. ‘You don’t see the red flags, even in yourself. I’ve learned you have to have empathy for yourself.’ Love insists that Glasgow audiences, in particular, appreciate that openness. ‘They’re brutally honest with hearty, big laughs.’ In other words, the perfect crowd for a comedian whose greatest skill isn’t just making people laugh but making them feel seen.
Judi Love: All About The Love, Òran Mór, Glasgow, Saturday 21 March, as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 22 March.
Heart and soul
Ben Glassberg conductor
Nowhere man
The sharper ones among you will have clocked that our comedy special has been a male-free zone. Here are 26 more acts who prove that the always ridiculous ‘are women funny?’ question posed by rank misogynists just gets sillier by the season
AISLING BEA
Featuring tales of travel, home, immigration, history, sex, babies, music, lovers and enemies, Bea will pack a lot into her stand-up return. Older Than Jesus is both a delightful and factual title.
Directed by Jessica Fostekew, Behold! is the story of author (she won the Dundee International Book Prize in 2014) and comic Mason being hacked and losing everything except the gifts that her tormentors started sending her.
The Stand, Glasgow, Wednesday 25 March; The Stand, Edinburgh, Thursday 26 March.
AYOADE BAMGBOYE
The current holder of Edinburgh’s Best Newcomer crown takes Swings And Roundabouts, the show which garnered that prize, on the road. It’s possible she may have tweaked the set since August but the bulk of it, about an outsider’s view of Britain (she’s Nigerian), will no doubt remain intact.
Borrowing Trouble is the intriguing title of the new set from this Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated Irish comic whose last show, Again, With Feelings, was described as something which ‘refines gossip to a high art’.
Here’s the blurb for AB’s new show: ‘Have you ever forensically over-thought your life choices? Are they all somehow connected to a passing comment your Spanish teacher made when you were 15? Has it impacted everything from your love life to your career?’ Funny and insightful answers to those questions are on the way.
The Stand, Glasgow, Wednesday 23 September.
FATIHA ELGHORRI
Cockney Stacking Doll is the twice-divorced Hackney-born comic’s debut touring show which will seek to smash one stereotype after another. El-Ghorri also publishes her first book later this year.
The Stand, Glasgow, Wednesday 27 May; The Stand, Edinburgh, Thursday 28 May.
FLO & JOAN
The dynamic musical sisters are back on tour. With Feeling is the name of this one, as the Dempseys aim to back up what we once said about them: ‘Musical comedy hasn’t been in such safe hands for years.’ Don’t let us down . . .
Pre-pandemic, A&E Comedy aka Abigail Dooley and Emma Edwards hit the live circuit together for the first time and they’re back with a new show which celebrates women in their prime.
‘Previously on’ Would I Lie To You? and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Kemsley now delivers Floozy, a show about mushrooms, dating and chaos.
Exploring aspects of her personality inherited from various family members, Fostekew skewers the likes of podcasters and her own offspring. Iconic Breath is what all this is called.
Character comic Maniura once performed on a Royal Mile stage in the rain with only her parents in attendance. Things have picked up a bit since then, and with The Cycling Man, she merges two ideas: drag kings and central London male cyclists kitted out to the nines in full Lycra despite only travelling a short distance.
Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Saturday 23 May.
LAURA LEXX
This acclaimed comic and podcaster will reveal a lot (probably not all) about the process of trying to love yourself during a decade-long marriage. Lexx’s last show was called Slinky and here she keeps up the symbolic toy-based titles with Yo-Yo
Born Aggy asks one central question: when all your dreams have been fulfilled, is it fine to still get annoyed at, well, everything? The former teacher turned stand-up attempts to figure it all out.
Animation, electropop tunes and stand-up merge here for Relay, South Wales comic, writer and composer Navabi’s show about building a family on her own terms and against quite a lot of odds.
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Saturday 16 May.
LORNA ROSE TREEN
Referencing everything from Twin Peaks to Normal People, Treen drags Now That’s What I Call Characters across the country featuring former staples of her sketch armoury plus some newer ones.
There’s some strong competition for the best touring title of 2026, and the Hull comic is surely among the frontrunners for this non-existent prize with Bad At Quiz Shows, Good With Weirdos. The ensuing entertainment will no doubt prove both statements beyond any reasonable doubt.
She’s been on Taskmaster and Last One Laughing, but now the Yorkshire stand-up is back doing her on-the-road thing with Whatsherface. Households will all know thingy’s name in the not too distant future.
When you hear the phrase ‘genre-defying’ related to a standup comedy show, you wonder what that could even entail nowadays. Still, when it comes to St Petersburg-born comic Koch, you wouldn’t put it past her. Fat Tom Cruise is her new one.
Vexy Beasts has the All Killa No Filla podcaster and genial Geordie comic bringing us some new personalities and old favourites for you to both love and hate such as a nepo baby, a middle-class rock star and a truly terrifying mother.
With Therapy, Derry’s Terry promises a ‘new tour, new trauma, new meds’, as she zeroes in on her journey to recovery.
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 6 September; SEC, Glasgow, Friday 16 October; Music Hall, Aberdeen, Saturday 17 October.
SINDHU VEE
Once her North American tour is completed, Vee will be getting all Swanky for UK audiences with a work about a rather ridiculous question someone asked her once. They’ll be regretting it now.
Stand-up, presenter, actor and, inevitably, content creator, Garrad’s Poor Little Rich Girl is a comedic act of vengeance upon the person who dubbed her as such in a Pizza Express.
Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Saturday 2 May.
STEVIE MARTIN
You may have most recently seen her in Mitchell & Webb’s pretty decent TV sketch return while those online videos made during lockdown are still worth a look. Now she’s back on stage with her extended (dates wise) Clout show.
The former corporate lawyer and now very much ‘the lady off the telly’, Calman gets back to her stand-up roots with the heavily Tall Tales: she’s not (tall) but she has some (tales) to regale us with.
Eden Court, Inverness, Friday 11 September; Perth Concert Hall, Thursday 17 September; EICC, Edinburgh, Friday 18 September; then touring until Friday 13 November.
SUSIE MCCABE
Scotland’s stand-up superstar in the making (you don’t win the Billy Connolly Spirit Of Glasgow award without then going serious places) keeps on trucking with new piece Coming Of in Glasgow and her ongoing Best Behaviour into the early ‘summer’.
King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Friday 27 & Saturday 28 March; Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen, Thursday 9 April; Eden Court, Inverness, Friday 10 April; then touring until Saturday 16 May.
URZILA CARLSON
The self-deprecating South African-New Zealander has done it again with Fatty On A Yacht. Her last touring show, You Don’t Say, did staggering business globally so there’s no reason to doubt this won’t follow the same path.
MARK BLACK, MARK COX & THE EWART BROS PLUS HUNDREDS MORE
If we made bad music the neighbours would tell us to shut up faster “
A happy accident brought Scottish nu-jazz quintet Kai Reesu together with LA rapper Jurnalist. Fair to say they’ve never looked back and scooping the SAY Award topped it all off. Danny Munro talks to Jurnalist and founder member Paul Copeland as the band get set for a hectic 2026
The most recent Scottish Album Of The Year Award ceremony took place in Dundee’s Caird Hall on 6 November, 2025. A quick glance at Google Trends data for that same evening reveals a dramatic spike in searches for the term ‘Kai Reesu’. This is, of course, down to the band of that same name clinching the main prize that night, a victory that came as something of a surprise to those who haven’t been paying attention to the burgeoning nu-jazz scene currently blossoming in the west of Scotland.
A six-strong group hailing from Paisley, Lochwinnoch, Thurso, Northumbria and Los Angeles, Kai Reesu pipped established names such as Hamish Hawk and Kathryn Joseph to the crown, thanks to their full-length debut Kompromat Vol I; it’s a fact they’re still trying to comprehend months later. ‘Brooke Combe was on Jimmy Kimmel last night dawg!’ laughs Jurnalist, Kai Reesu’s enigmatic frontman. ‘Jacob Alon was on Graham Norton like two, three days ago. How am I in the same conversation as these people?’ continues the LAborn MC (real name Mitchell Frost) who now resides in Glasgow and can be heard rapping across some jazzy instrumentals on album one. ‘I like to think that people see the band and go: “Oh it’s a bunch of scru y thirtysomething guys still going at it,”’ says keyboardist and producer extraordinaire Paul Copeland, when asked why he believes Kompromat Vol I appealed to the judging panel at the SAY Awards. ‘We just love making records and I think there must be something transparent about that. I’m obsessed with it.’
Kai Reesu (l–r): Michael Butcher, Harry Weir, Jurnalist, Paul Copeland, Matt Sim (standing), Robert McArthur (seated)
Originally a jazz quintet consisting of Copeland, saxophonists Harry Weir and Michael Butcher, bassist and guitarist Robert McArthur, and drummer Matt Sim, the band were introduced to Frost at Glitch 41, a jazz night in the Rum Shack in Glasgow’s Southside, during which Liam Shortall of corto.alto invited Frost to rap on stage. Weeks later, when a rapper scheduled to perform with Kai Reesu dropped out of a performance at Edinburgh’s St James Quarter, the band turned to Frost for cover and never looked back. ‘I think it’s all slotted in so well in terms of the lyricism,’ says Copeland of the frontman whom he affectionately refers to as Jurn. ‘His imagery is just opulent and cool; the flow is really good. We’re influenced by LA beat music and Jurn just gets it.’
Copeland’s admiration for his bandmate is clear and a large part of Kai Reesu’s charm is the admiration Frost has for his new home. Having been instantly charmed when he first visited Scotland in 2018 to record music with a friend he met online, Frost is currently trying to secure permanent resident status in the country. He refers to himself as the ‘Governor Of Govan’ in his Instagram bio. ‘I love my constituents!’ he laughs. While he hasn’t lost his native accent, Frost has picked up a great deal of Scots dialect, something he believes has helped him develop his rapping ability. ‘The patter?’ Frost exhales. ‘It’s so good! The way that I can bend a phrase and definition by choosing different words that are utilised here means I can convey a different message.’ During our interview, Frost illustrates this point, explaining to Copeland how his grandma used to live in ‘a belter of a house’ in Las Vegas, before praising the ‘quality scran’ on offer at Clark’s, the 24-hour bakery in Dundee.
A neatly produced jazz/hip-hop fusion album, Kompromat Vol I tells the tale of Jurnalist having arrived in Scotland before assimilating himself here. When listening back to the ten-track project, it’s easy to understand why it won the coveted award, though what’s most impressive is how little time it took for the band to produce the record. ‘We hadn’t even been playing for a year and we were getting nominated for stuff. We put the album together in, like, three months,’ reflects Copeland. ‘It’s not a flex to say it came together that quickly, because everyone in the band has a lot of musical ideas, so we’re actually trying to get through a backlog of stuff.’
While the final tracks were largely laid down in recording studios, namely Starla Recordings in Lochwinnoch and Glasgow’s Solas Sound, a great deal of Kai Reesu’s award-winning debut came together just metres away from where our interview takes place: in Copeland’s house. In a rented flat on an inconspicuous street in central Paisley, the pianist has dedicated the last five years to transforming his living room into a cosy home studio in which no space is wasted.
From analogue tape machines to keyboards and synths, the reformed sitting room is a treasure trove of second-hand audio equipment. ‘It’s usually a bit of a mess,’ admits Copeland. ‘But that actually makes people feel comfortable.’ Frost interjects: ‘It lowers the stakes!’ Copeland proceeds to play one of the band’s unreleased instrumentals over his speakers, a lavish, textured jazz beat which serves as a reminder of just how solid the band are, instantly transporting all three of us away from a rainy midweek night in Paisley. It’s hard to imagine six people squeezing into this intimate studio space and the noise that must reverberate around the stairwell, though Copeland appears unfazed: ‘I think if we made bad music the neighbours would tell us to shut up much faster.’
Copeland and Frost both discuss music at a restless pace, be it recommending upand-coming Scottish artists (Frost advises all readers to check out Edinburgh-based R&B singer Tayoh) or musing about their musical inspirations (Copeland says the late D’Angelo had a big bearing on their forthcoming work). It’s clear that the band approach their production with the same passionate vim, as Frost reveals that the group are already working on a third album, despite having not yet finished their sophomore project. ‘Artists can be quite neurotic sometimes . . . we spend a lot of time trying to polish to the greatest level and sometimes we’re overcooking it. Just let it go,’ says Frost of the band’s relentless production style. ‘I think that’s how we’ve cultivated and kept a really sharp edge because, boy, this next one dawg? It’s crazy. The line-up of records we have is ridiculous,’ he teases, a grin emerging across the rapper’s face.
Though exact details of its release are still to be finalised, Copeland confirms that their next LP will be the second volume in the Kompromat series, with plans for a digital and physical release around May. ‘We’re trying not to just do hip hop on this one,’ reveals Copeland when asked about what listeners can expect from album two. ‘We’ve got a tune where Jurn is rapping in 6/8 time; some weird beats as well. There’s some more obscure stuff on this one.’
Frost concurs: ‘Yeah, we gotta push the envelope a little bit. So reminding people that not only do we make hip hop, we are a jazz outfit and we are here for the music. It’s not just because I’m rapping on it, but we’re here to see these people play and to listen to them. The stuff they’re doing is just ridiculous.’ Asked whether their plans beyond 2026 look more like world domination or steady growth, Frost is quick to choose the latter. ‘If we hit Bad Bunny status, beautiful, let the cheques roll in. But can I maintain making great music at that scale and not be sacrificing? That’s the thing that I’m more focused on.’
Kai Reesu perform at Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Saturday 21 March; SAMA Paisley
25 April;
2 May;
Takeover Festival, Saturday
and Kelburn Jazz Weekend, Saturday
Kompromat Vol II is due for release in May.
DUNDEE REP • 27 & 28 FEB ADAM SMITH THEATRE, KIRKCALDY • 13 & 14 MAR TRAMWAY, GLASGOW • 20 & 21 MAR
PINK FLOYD’S THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Pink Floyd’s iconic album by immersing yourself with a spectacular, all-encompassing surround sound show that transcends time and space.
STARGAZING LATE & LIVE
Immerse yourself amongst the stars as our resident astronomers guide you across the cosmos, delving into their favourite sights to see along the way.
PREHISTORIC PICTURES
Settle in for a movie night like no other, underneath Edinburgh’s night sky! Enjoy classic films inspired by the creatures that roamed the Earth over 65 million years ago: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic World and Godzilla. This April, experience Edinburgh’s only Planetarium after dark!
SCOTTISH CHEESE ACADEMY
Cheese still plays second fiddle to Scotland’s larder headliners like whisky, beef and seafood. Yet it has an equally rich tradition, with producers creating all manner of farmhouse cheddars, goat’s cheeses, tangy blues and more. Tanny Gill’s newly launched Scottish Cheese Academy aims to fill this education gap, using decades of experience including judging the World Cheese Awards. Whether you’re a cheese lover looking to increase your appreciation or a hospitality pro wanting to gain industry-recognised certificates, there’s a course to up your game. Learn all about a product’s heritage perhaps or try a masterclass on pairing cheese with wine and whisky. (Jay Thundercliffe) scottishcheeseacademy.com
Design of the times
The moment you step inside Nishiki, you know this is a Splintr space. Across Scotland’s hospitality scene, plastic flower arches have started to gather dust while tartan touches scream the 90s; Splintr’s interiors, though, have a knack for feeling timeless. No small feat in an industry always looking for the next big thing. ‘Splintr has been in business since 2014,’ says designer Peter Munnoch. ‘We don’t take domestic projects. Everything we do is for hospitality or retail; places where people work and places that cater to the public.’
Over the past decade, Splintr have built an undeniably impressive portfolio: from a former warehouse turned trendy pizza parlour, to a general store transformed into a fine-dining restaurant, via work on Scotland’s tallest whisky distillery. Crucially, Splintr’s projects aim to have longevity: few of their clients have closed their doors. Munnoch puts this down to a ‘less is more’ mentality; when it comes to restaurants, minimalism, clean lines and open space will always be on trend.
Their latest project, Nishiki on Edinburgh’s Morrison Street, shows off this signature restraint. ‘Ironically, a lot of work goes into a sleek, simple, minimalist look,’ Munnoch admits. The Japanese restaurant from the Yamato Group feels serene and effortless, with a Kyoto-meets-Scandinavia
Splintr have a track record of reshaping hospitality spaces. Suzy Pope feels a sense of calm as she surveys their latest restaurant rebuild
sensibility that doesn’t stray into pastiche. Pale wood, paper whites and inky blacks create a space so finely balanced it feels almost meditative. There’s not a superfluous detail in sight.
Nishiki is unrecognisable from the dark and fading steakhouse that occupied the building for more than 25 years. ‘We did a lot of design work to hide the inner workings of the space,’ Munnoch says. ‘We wanted it to feel uncluttered, just like the simple izakayas and standing sushi bars you find in Japan.’ That philosophy is central: ‘We’ll always choose simplicity over over-design.’
These days, social media visuals matter nearly as much as flavour and good design can make or break a restaurant. Munnoch believes it’s important to stay fully hands-on, designing and creating bespoke fittings in-house, rather than using a contractor. ‘Our design studio is above the workshop. There’s no middleman and far less room for miscommunication. I can be there while each piece is being made, tweaking the design as furniture and fittings take physical shape.’
At Nishiki, that attention to detail pays off. Clean-lined shelving subtly showcases an impressive sake collection; vast tables are left largely bare save for ceramic chopstick rests and earthenware bowls. A striking array of
paper lanterns cast a soft glow over plates of blush-pink sashimi, glossy wakame seaweed salad and golden gyoza. Staff glide from kitchen to table while, behind the long bar, sake is poured into thimble-sized cups. The building itself wasn’t without challenges. ‘The space had an unconventional shape,’ Munnoch says. ‘There were moments we thought we’d never be allowed to open it up properly.’ Yet where a thick, load-bearing stone wall once separated two rooms, there’s now a dramatic opening framing the communal table like a picture, a bold move that gives the restaurant its sense of flow and no doubt delights the social-media savvy. So, as you cradle a ceramic mug of green tea, pierce a jammy ramen egg with your chopstick and carefully align your bowl of rich kitsune udon for that perfectly composed shot, it’s worth remembering that these simple aesthetics don’t happen by accident. And it’s worth thinking about the work that goes into restaurant spaces long before first orders are taken and the first ‘like’ is sent.
Jo Laidlaw rounds up some cheeky new openings and hails the nation’s award winners
Michelin season went well for Scotland, with new stars for Killiecrankie House and 1887 Restaurant in Torridon. Closer to home, there are green stars for Timberyard and The Free Company, along with bib gourmands for Angeethi By Sagar Massey, Sebb’s and The Clarence. Congrats pals.
There are a few new openings to explore in Edinburgh this month. We’ll be polishing up our (entirely inauthentic) double-horned Viking helmet before heading to Merchant Street’s Sköll & Hati, a long-awaited bigger canvas for The Cocktail Geeks. During the day there’s a coffee-and-chill vibe, with no-alcohol cocktails, while evening sees wine, grazing boards and their signature shakes served with Norse lore and candlelight. Your favourite old man’s pub is also shaking things up: Athletic Arms have opened a whole new bar on Bernard Street, aptly called Diggers Leith. And Uncle Tiger looks fun; a new casual resto with an Asian street-food influenced menu which rotates its inspiration every six weeks: Hong Kong is first up. It’s all in the very capable hands of Cameron Laidlaw, ex of Junk.
In Glasgow, the city’s already strong deli game just got even better with the launch of Krämer’s, a Hyndland Road shop owned by two former chefs looking for a slightly nicer work-life balance. And Freddy & Hicks have upped sticks, with a move to Kilmarnock Road for their cult smash burgers. Make ours a Big Mama.
Finally, the team were sorry to hear of the passing of Andrew Marshall, Hot 100 alumni and co-creator of Edinburgh Street Food. Our condolences to his family and friends.
Sköll & Hati
PICTURE: ALIX MCINTOSH
TipList
Our TipLists suggest the places worth knowing about in different themes, categories and locations. This month, we’re going hands-on with food and drink experiences that help you engage with what’s in the glass and what’s on your plate, while still having a good old day out
Food and drink experiences
Edinburgh Glasgow
EDINBURGH FOOD & DRINK ACADEMY
7 Queen Street, entcs.co.uk
Want to master Thai curry? Stop your souf é falling at? The renamed and relaunched former New Town Cookery School has cooking classes for all levels and ages. Perfect your culinary skills with local chefs, learn the art of wine tasting or get the kids baking with classes spanning continents and every culinary style you could think of.
Chef Paul Wedgwood leads regular foraging experiences in East Lothian. After collecting pepper dulse from rockpools and scouring ancient woodland for sweet cicely, you’re rewarded with a seven-course lunch including your foraged bounty at Wedgwood The Restaurant.
THE JOHNNIE WALKER EXPERIENCE
145 Princes Street, johnniewalker.com
Johnnie Walker’s Journey Of Flavour is basically the daddy of whisky tours in the capital. With interactive elements, live performances and three cocktails designed to match your own avour pro le, it’s slick, educational and entertaining. Afterwards, head to the 1820 Rooftop Bar for more drinks and phenomenal views.
THE TABLE
3a Dundas Street, thetableedinburgh.com
A tasting-menu restaurant with a sense of rebellion that’s de nitely all about the experience. Just ten places are set around the open kitchen where chef Sean Clark whisks and dices, pausing between courses to explain each decadently plated dish in an ode to Scottish produce.
TAKE FIVE
5 Porters Walk, classbento.co.uk/take-five
Chef May Ling shares her expertise in Asian cookery (she once cooked for the King of Malaysia) at a series of bao-making workshops in Newington. A super-fun three hours is spent lling, tweaking, steaming and decorating uffy buns. Leaving with a brood of cute, happy-faced baos, you can’t help but smile. (Jo Laidlaw, Suzy Pope)
CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE
City Campus, 190 Cathedral Street, cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
With everything getting more and more spenny, these evening classes in cooking are excellent value. From fun-sounding courses like Thai street food or cooking for friends to introductions to butchery or patisserie, you can dive deep or go as shallow as you like for little outlay or hassle.
THE CLYDESIDE DISTILLERY
100 Stobcross Road, theclydeside.com
Glasgow’s very own (and only) whisky distillery is set on a pretty gorgeous spot right on the banks of the Clyde. Their tours start at under £20 and range from a simple distillery visit with drams to taste, to a chocolate and whisky tasting, or blending your own whisky experiences.
CROSSBILL GIN SCHOOL
Unit 1, BAaD, 54 Calton Entry, crossbillgin.com
Right in the heart of the Barras, Crossbill Distilling run classes on gin tasting, gin blending and, most romantically, a distilling class for couples where you can choose your own botanicals and make a one-of-a-kind elixir, distilled in a copper still and sealed with wax.
GALLOWAY WILD FOODS
gallowaywildfoods.com
Mark Williams runs numerous foraging experiences, including a drunken botany safari that will see you hunting for cocktail ingredients along the Maryhill Canal. There are also expansive options around his Galloway stamping ground, from low-tide searching for coastal greens, seaweeds, shell sh and succulents, to a week of sailing and foraging around Arran and Kintyre.
WEST BREWERY
Templeton Business Centre, 15 Binnie Place, westbeer.com
Sean Fennelly, Brand Ambassador for The Balvenie, chooses three of his favourite food and drink experiences in Glasgow and Edinburgh
CHEF’S TABLE AT CAIL BRUICH
725 Great Western Road, Glasgow, cailbruich.co.uk
In the soft glow of this Michelin-starred kitchen, diners take their seats beside the pass as chef Lorna McNee and her team create a seasonal symphony of Scottish avours. The experience balances precision with ease, offering one of Glasgow’s most memorable dining experiences.
TIPSY TEA AT THE DOME 4 George Street, Edinburgh, thedomeedinburgh.com
The Dome’s ‘Tipsy Tea’ features three cocktails, each harmonising with courses from one of Edinburgh’s most generous afternoon teas. Best of the bunch sees a white chocolate and coconut truf e paired with a world’s- rst taste of Another Hendrick’s, a new bottle from the Ayrshire gin-maker.
WHISKY FLIGHTS AT COMMONS CLUB
1 Victoria Street, Edinburgh, virginhotels.com/edinburgh/eatdrink/commons-club
Edinburgh, with its steady stream of curious tourists might just be the spiritual home of the whisky ight. At Commons Club, they go beyond the basics, offering comparative tastings of some sensationally old stock.
This brewpub on Glasgow Green is the brainchild of a German student who saw a market for small-batch beer brewed in line with German purity laws. On this tour, you’ll get up-close and personal with the brewing equipment and taste three of their core products. (David Kirkwood) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Foraging With Paul Wedgwood
Galloway Wild Foods
SOUTH ASIAN KOCHCHI
Taking the place of Hanoi Bike Shop is a new Sri Lankan diner with street food origins. The two owners, who moved to Glasgow from the island as youngsters, have progressed from a horsebox to a spot in Edinburgh’s Bonnie & Wild food hall and on to dishing out their native cuisine from this permanent home on shabby-chic Ruthven Lane. Kochchi is in a charming old-school whitewashed building and they’ve spent a wadge doing it up in soothing terracotta and foliage-inspired textiles, with rattan-backed chairs and decorations from their homeland. It’s compact inside, with tables a tad too tightly squeezed together over two floors, alongside a few al fresco spots including a wee balcony that’s great for people-watching above the lane.
There is still a big focus on street snacks (aka short eats) including an enjoyable pork belly sandwich using extra crunchy paan slices and mild cheese-filled roti rolls with mango sauce. There’s also kotthu, a popular street food, traditionally made using leftover chopped flatbread and vegetables; here it’s fried with chicken, pork or cauliflower. A handful of curries include an enjoyable black pork, with intentionally fatty cuts of meat in a dark, spicy sauce. The crab version comes as whole beast, halved, with crackers and pick provided for some messy fun. Devilled dishes include pan-fried pork, chillis and vegetables for a slightly spicier hit, although nothing here is hot-hot.
Accompaniments include the eye-catching hopper: a bowl-shaped rice flour pancake, as well as sambols. The tasty condiments and relishes (that come in too-small portions) include pol sambol with coconut and chillis, or katta sambol, akin to a spiced onion chutney. Interesting signature cocktails celebrate island drinks and flavours, like Goraka Glow, a gin from Colombo infused with the sour goraka fruit and Sunset Pekoe bitters. (Jay Thundercliffe)
n 8 Ruthven Lane, Glasgow; kochchi.co.uk; average price £30 for two courses.
SCOTTISH DOGSTAR
Dogstar’s stellar start back in November could put the teeniest bit of pressure on what feels like a late-to-the-party visit: expect nothing but delight, or take the buzz with a cellarful of salt? Save yourself the worry. This is unequivocally the hottest opening for years. Chef James Murray (ex-Timberyard) is no stranger to technically precise, Michelin-pleasing food. But he’s let loose here, balancing all that experience with playfulness and simplicity. It’s a joy to eat a bowl of pickled radishes, unadorned, clean as wee whistles tootling a promise of spring. Their accompaniment? Ranch dressing made with Lanark Blue cheese. A fever-dream of casual and fine-dining. Audacious.
Sourcing is meticulous and sensible. Mid-Scottish game season, there’s no apology for the lack of lamb, pork or beef. Instead, there’s a whole partridge, skin crisp and savoury, served with earthy celeriac and plum preserve (woodcock also appears on the specials). The menu changes frequently, but you’ll almost always find a couple of bowls of shells, like sea clams unexpectedly paired with rosemary. And if you find the mains carb-light, just order more of the superlative focaccia (which sticks up two coal-blackened fingers to the city’s sourdough obsession).
Of course, great restaurants are more than just food, and Nauticus lads Kyle Jamieson and Michael Lynch make the whole thing go with a swing, out on the floor, making you fall in love not just with their new baby but with the whole idea of eating out again. The dogstar is, apparently, the brightest star in the sky. That tracks. (Jo Laidlaw) n 17 Portland Place, Edinburgh; dogstarleith.com; average price £45 for starter, main and bread.
Ask EADith
Got a food dilemma? Need a killer rec to seal the deal? Or just want the inside track on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s eating and drinking scene? Then why not ask EADith, our Eat & Drink team’s helpful agony aunt. This month, EADith advises a gourmand who’s looking for a giggle
Dear EADith
I’m about to enter third-date territory and I think this one’s a keeper. I’m a firm believer in laughing potential partners into the sack, but also, we’ve got to eat. And also, I’m skint. Can you help me find a funny, filling, fiscally fair solution?
Dear (aptly named) DontWantMuchDoI
DontWantMuchDoI
Mr EADith and I appreciate the weight attached to this all-important third date, having believed that particular ritual had dwindled with the rise of what the young call ‘the apps’. Cheered by your adherence to tradition, I (naturally) have the perfect spot. The Gilded Saloon is a comedy club/ pub/restaurant and so the ideal one-stop shop for such a fateful evening. Book tickets and a table, settling into a comfy booth in the traditional upstairs bar to peruse a menu based around pub classics that have been ever so slightly tweaked, in all the right ways. Should nerves overcome you, snacks like pork skewers doused in black garlic and shaved cured egg yolk deliver a flavour punch in a delicate portion size. Or, if you want to emphasise your keeper credentials, opt for Isle Of Mull Welsh rarebit, a hearty slice of well-flavoured, nicely browned cheese on toast that pairs perfectly with a pint and screams long-term partner potential. Mains are equally homely: for true pipe and slippers élan, try one of their delicious pies (beef shin or wild mushroom). Massive, hearty, swimming in sauce, they’re reassuringly solid.
This is very much a pub, rather than a restaurant or (horrors) a ‘gastropub’. One orders at the bar, which may mean navigating a little frustration at busy times as the staff manage the twin demands of food and beverage service. Do not lose heart: this is the perfect opportunity to display your ability to be kind to waiting staff, which is the foundation all relationships should be built upon. Close with a flourish and pick up the incredibly reasonable bill; truly, there are few better bargains to be had. And, if you still manage to muck it up, there’s comedy to come, after which you can laugh yourself to sleep in your lonely bed. (As told to Jo Laidlaw)
The Gilded Saloon, 47 Lothian Street, Edinburgh; thegildedsaloon.co.uk; average price £15 for a main course; pictures: Danielle Bakkes.
Creative folks reveal their top watering hole COMEDIAN PIERCE HIGGINS
I go to a pub to have a pint and a laugh, not to have my photo taken in front of a neonlit leaf archway to add to my social media portfolio. That’s why I go to Blackfriars. Upstairs there’s live music where you can see a Glaswegian shredding a rendition of ‘Purple Rain’ halfway through a pint of Guinness. Or you go downstairs for comedy where an MC will rightfully scrutinise any influencer activity or flash photography because a good night out at the pub should make you forget you even brought your phone in the first place.
Pierce Higgins: Glaikit, Blackfriars, Glasgow, Thursday 12 March, as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
BAR FILES
EDINBURGH CHARITY FASHION SHOW
Nothing is certain in the current trend cycle, but we can rely on one thing: the endlessly imaginative minds of creatives. And as emerging designers embrace the theme of synaesthesia at the student-led Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show, the event is destined to be a sensory marvel that goes beyond traditional immersive experiences. In support of Capability Scotland, the show aims to build on its previous fundraising success by creating a runway that feeds our fascination with storytelling, reshaping the way we experience fashion while changing the lives of disabled children and adults across Scotland.
It may be known as The Forgotten County, but a visit to Donegal leaves a lasting impression. Isy Santini ventures into a land of myths, mountains, castles and crustaceans
You don’t have to travel far to feel like you’re at the edge of the world. An hour-long flight and one very scenic drive later, you can find yourself surrounded by emerald greens and deep blues, looking out over the vast Atlantic Ocean. This is Donegal, Ireland’s northmost county. Dungloe, where I base myself, is about as rural as you can get, and upon arrival I’m greeted by an escaped lamb happily munching on the bushes outside my holiday cottage. After a quick visit to the neighbouring farmer and a bit of lamb wrangling, it’s off to explore the local river walk. This enchanting 2km loop is lined with waist-high fairy houses, all painstakingly decorated with so much detail that you half expect a gnome to step out of the front door.
For some true natural beauty, though, head to Glenveagh National Park, where visitors have free rein to roam the park’s majestic landscape, traverse its rushing waterfalls, climb the peaks of the Derryveagh Mountains and look out over the serene Poisoned Glen, which takes its name from the legend of Balor, a one-eyed giant supposedly killed there by his grandson. Those who prefer a less active day out can wander the medieval-inspired Glenveagh Castle and its surrounding gardens, which still bear all the horticultural stylings of the Victorian era. Cap the day off with a cuppa and a cake in the sunny courtyard café.
Heartier fare can be found back in Dungloe at Patrick Johnny Sally’s, a traditional Irish pub where any weary traveller is guaranteed warm hospitality, stunning views over the bay and some very generous charcuterie boards. At any seaside town, though, the maritime delights should be sampled. The Lobster Pot at Burtonport, easily recognised by the giant crustacean sculpture hanging off the front of the building, is the place to go.
On the off chance that nature’s wonders tire you out, Glebe House awaits. A former residence of English painter Derek Hill, it now boasts a collection that includes Hill’s work as well as that of Picasso, Renoir and William Morris. And just a stone’s throw away from the house lies Columbkille Abbey, whose 10th-century ruins cast a lonely and contemplative mood over the surrounding hills. Wander through the toppled stonework and you’re likely to find gifts to the eponymous saint, still diligently offered by modern-day worshippers.
But is any summer holiday truly complete without a day at the beach? You don’t have to lug your swimsuit all the way to Greece or Spain for some fun in the sun. Maghery Beach is one of Donegal’s best kept secrets, brimming with miraculously warm rock pools and long stretches of soft white sand. Just watch out for the crabs.
govisitdonegal.com
my favourite holiday
Comedian Craig Hill recalls his first overseas trip, armed with just £20 and a pair of scissors
The holiday that had the biggest impact on me was my very first trip abroad. I was 26, an unemployed actor and desperate to travel. Two friends were going to Mykonos and suggested I join them later: they left me with a cheque to cover the airfare and a promise I’d pay them back when I started panto. There were no mobile phones back then, so they didn’t know I was definitely coming and I had no way to contact them. I landed in Athens and, because I thought this would be my first opportunity ever to get a proper tan, went straight to the toilet and changed into a white vest and white shorts: you couldn’t see where the shorts ended and the legs began. Halfway through the seven-hour ferry trip to Mykonos, I suddenly realised how vulnerable I was. In the dark and in the middle of the ocean, I had £20 in my pocket, no phone and no credit card. I did take my hairdressing scissors though, in case I didn’t meet them and had to make money cutting hair on the beach to get home! Having trawled every bar in town to find my friends, I suddenly spotted them coming over the hill on my way to bed. I was like a child in a shopping centre who’d found his mum. And I’ve had a soft spot for the island ever since.
Craig Hill: Wait ’Til You See My Entrance, Òran Mór, Glasgow, Friday 13 & Saturday 14 March, as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival; Grangemouth Town Hall, Grangemouth, Friday 17 April; Corn Exchange, Haddington, Friday 29 May; picture: Steve Ullathorne.
on your doorstep
As International Women’s Day arrives this month, Lucy Ribchester picks three locations which pay tribute to notable figures in Scottish history
TIGH NA CAILLEACH
Deep in a Perthshire glen lies a testament to Scotland’s goddess-worshipping past. The Tigh Na Cailleach (‘house of the old woman’) is a shieling where stones representing the Cailleach goddess, her husband and children reside during the winter. No one knows the stones’ history, but the tradition of housing them at Samhain and bringing them outside at Beltane ensures their legacy continues.
n visitaberfeldy.co.uk
DUNBAR CASTLE
Dunbar Castle’s 14th-century chatelaine is one of the lesser-known heroines of the wars of independence. ‘Black Agnes’ Randolph (so called, contemporaneously, for her complexion) was entrusted with guarding the castle in her husband’s absence, a task she took to with panache. It’s said that when English forces catapulted stones at it, she breezily took a ‘towell’ and ‘wypit the wall’ to goad them. n undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
GLASGOW NECROPOLIS
Glasgow’s hilltop necropolis is a labyrinth of stonemasonry masterpieces, as well as the resting place for many of the city’s influential Victorian women. The brilliant Glasgow Women’s Library has produced a downloadable self-guided walk for the cemetery, highlighting women’s memorials. Look out for Corlinda Lee aka Queen Of The Gypsies and Isabella Ure Elder, a pioneer in women’s higher education. n glasgownecropolis.org
PICTURE: KENNY LAM
Glasgow Necropolis
Food for thought
Words, wine, charcuterie and chat: not just an ideal social combination but The Bookmonger’s modus operandi. Afreka Thomson drops in to experience a very different kind of book club
Winding down New Kirk Road in Bearsden, it’s hard not to notice The Bookmonger. Among the predictable pharmacies and coffee chains, it’s a delightful interruption: shelves of paperbacks and hardbacks beckoning from behind softly lit windows and a lovely blue doorframe. Step inside and it gets even better. Tables are piled high with cheese, fruit and charcuterie. Is that wine being poured, too? Yes, yes it is.
The Bookmonger is the area’s first dedicated bookshop and founder Caitlyn Payne knew she wanted to build something special. ‘As members of the community, it felt essential to bring something meaningful and new to the area,’ she says. The result is a curious, inviting hybrid of snacks, literature and conversation: part bookshop, part culinary experience, part your mate’s living room and, as Payne puts it, ‘a book club brought to life’. Reading was more than a passion for Payne; it became an important anchor through a difficult chapter. ‘I always knew I would open a bookshop. That became clear when books carried me through one of the hardest periods of my life,’ she says, reflecting on the inspiration that followed her breast cancer journey in 2022. Her route to The Bookmonger winds from a bookwormy childhood in Delaware, through a long career in fashion, to settling in Bearsden with her young family. Payne’s background in design and style is evident; nothing in the room is accidental.
And it’s not just locals taking notice. ‘People discovered us online and travelled from across the UK and internationally,’ Payne says. The Bookmonger’s reach is a reminder of how rare spaces like this still are, particularly outside the big cities. Need a recommendation from The Bookmonger to see you through these remaining winter nights? Payne’s ideal trio is a velvety red (Agricola Punica Montessu) paired with Snowdonia’s Bouncing Berry cheese and Florence Knapp’s The Names, a quietly compelling family saga, served on the comfiest sofa you can find.
32 New Kirk Road, Bearsden; thebookmongerbearsden.co.uk; instagram.com/thebookmongerbearsden
shop talk
WISHES ON THE WIND
Feel like a flower fairy or a cottagecore queen with Wishes On The Wind’s wearable nature. The little Edinburgh shop specialises in preserving flowers, moss and feathers inside eco-resin pendants. Want something in particular? They’re more than happy to take on custom orders.
n wishesonthewind.com; instagram.com/ wishesonthewind
STACY BIAS
Inspired by the ever-changing shapes of bird flocks, Glasgow-based artist Stacy Bias released her debut jewellery collection last year, Murmuration, which features delicate starling rings, elegant dotted ear climbers and more.
Isy Santini finds some gems in the jewellery market
Bias views metalwork as storytelling, using winding lines and detailed engraving to explore the power of collective movement. n stacybiasjewellery.com; instagram.com/ _stacybias
KAZ ROBERTSON
In a world of beige and minimalism, Kaz Robertson’s funky resin jewellery is a breath of fresh air. Combining the fun of the 2000s with bold mid-century shapes, Robertson’s bracelets and brooches are a maximalist delight. She adds an exciting twist to each piece, from reversible jewellery to magnetised bangles.
n kazrobertson.co.uk; instagram.com/ kazrobertsonjewellery
Stacy Bias
MEDUSA
going out
Ancient myth meets queer rave culture in this Scottish reimagining of stories featuring Poseidon, Athena, the eponymous snake-haired woman and her fellow Gorgons Sthenno and Euryale. Created by Heather Marshall and directed by Jen McGregor, this piece aims to tackle the misogyny at the heart of such legends, exploring the effect of hormones on women’s bodies, menstrual cycles and the ensuing physical and mental health implications as they confront a notorious figure of ‘female rage’. (Brian Donaldson)
Summerhall, Edinburgh, Friday 6–Sunday 8 March; picture: Tiu Makkonen.
“ This is a very fragile and dangerous film lif•
Published in 1982, A Pale View Of Hills was the debut novel from the man who would later become a Booker and Nobel-winning author. That book has now been turned into a movie and Kazuo Ishiguro is more than happy to step out on its publicity trail. He talks to James Mottram about how the nuclear tensions of the 1980s compare to today’s global anxiety and why film adaptations of classic books need to be more than simply exercises in homage
A Pale View Of Hills was your first novel. What do you remember about writing it? The background is that I had not written much fiction at all. I started to write a few short stories relatively late. I’m not one of these people who wrote stories as a child. And it was partly because my mother said: ‘If you’re going to be a writer, I should tell you some of my memories of the war years.’ Not necessarily just bomb, but about the whole war years, because she thought that it was good that she handed on memories to the next generation. I wrote short stories based on them. And it was directly after that I thought: ‘I want to write a novel.’
short stories based on them. And it was directly after that I thought: ‘I
Did her stories then make it into the novel? I made a conscious decision that I would not use these stories that were directly based on my mother’s experiences. I thought they were too personal sometimes and also, just from an artistic point of view, I didn’t want to write a novel that was episodic. But somehow her experiences would inform the world of this novel. For this reason, I would say this story has a personal dimension that perhaps the others don’t. I’m sad that my mother didn’t live to see the movie.
How did you feel about Kei Ishikawa adapting it for the screen? Even when I published the book all those years ago, there were things that I felt weren’t quite right, so I said to Mr Ishikawa: ‘Look, you can feel very confident about making this your movie.’ At the beginning we discussed many of the areas that I thought were weak and I think he has made them the strengths: the ambiguity of the story, the relationship of the two main women. In my book, it’s too baffling, too puzzling, too tricksy. And I felt that almost immediately after the book was published. I think Ishikawa has used that ambiguity, the mysteriousness of people’s identities, how they talk about other people from the past when they really wanted to talk about themselves. I think he has done that very well and made it one of the great strengths of the story.
The film coincides with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Does that feel significant? Yes. There were all these great institutions created after that: United Nations, International Monetary Fund, human rights conventions. With all their flaws, we took these things for granted. I’ve never known a time when they were so doubted and so challenged. So, for me, having grown up mainly in a period of peace, I feel this is a very fragile and dangerous moment.
Do you have strong memories of England in 1982, one of the eras depicted in the story? I would have been in my late twenties. It’s easy for people to forget but there was a moment before the end of the Cold War where it got very, very tense. Often people think that incrementally things just got nicer and nicer, and then the Berlin Wall fell. Actually, there was a moment around that time when we got seriously worried about a nuclear war and the government actually
moment
sent out these leaflets about what to do in the event of an attack. They were quite amusing. We were told you should clear space underneath your staircase and have some emergency beans! I remember going on these big peace marches and at that time I wrote this novel. Now that feels like a historic moment.
This is not the first time one of your books has been adapted. Are you quite good at handing one of your babies over? I like to think I don’t interfere too much. When I see a film based on a wellknown book and it doesn’t work very well, it’s almost always because the filmmakers have tried to be too faithful; I think it’s quite easy for the filmmakers to become lazy in terms of imagination and lean too much on what is already there in the book. I believe my job, in a way, is to keep reminding the filmmakers that they have to make their own film because that is the easiest way to not make a mediocre or even a bad movie.
You’ve adapted other works yourself. Living, with Bill Nighy, was a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s film Ikiru. How was that process? In some ways, the original is the enemy when you’re doing anything, though I wouldn’t want to say Kurosawa was my enemy! But I think adaptation is a very fragile process, because you’ve got to get this balance right to honour what you valued in the original. Unless it has its own energy and its own vision, it’s worthless. It’s just an empty homage exercise.
A Pale View Of Hills is in cinemas from Friday 13 March; Kazuo Ishiguro picture: Jeff Cottenden.
GAELIC CULTURE
NORTH ATLANTIC SONG CONVENTION
Returning to Edinburgh’s Scottish Storytelling Centre, the North Atlantic Song Convention is the brainchild of Brian Ó hEadhra, boasting workshops, performances and lectures, linking Scots and Gaelic singers with their Nordic counterparts. The convention welcomes Steve Byrne and Irish sean-nós singer Órla Ní Fhinneadha, alongside Scandinavians Synnøve Brøndbo Plassen and Óskar Freyr Guðnason (pictured).
‘The programme brings together singers and thinkers from across the North Atlantic who come to traditional song from very different places,’ says Ó hEadhra. ‘Some are deeply rooted in family and community traditions; others work through research or contemporary practice. And many move between these worlds.’ That flow is key to the 2026 ethos, with more cultural diversity than ever. Theatre and participatory arts practitioner Femi Oriogun-Williams and Gemma Khawaja (a former winner of the Islington Folk Club Trad2Mad) contribute to ‘a mix of backgrounds’ yielding ‘rich conversations and a real sense of learning from one another’. With a wide range of creative practice to celebrate, traditional song is set to embrace lesser-frequented platforms.
Ó hEadhra hopes people leave feeling ‘inspired, connected, and more confident; understanding song as something living and shared rather than fixed or polished. Attendees often leave with new friendships, fresh ideas and a deeper sense of responsibility towards the traditions they love.’ Culminating with The North Atlantic Song Connection concert, the event will bring performers ‘together on one stage, sharing songs in different languages without amplification or barriers: a powerful, human experience of great singing, cultural respect and genuine connection.’ (Marcas Mac an Tuairneir)
Sharing her birthday with an Icelandic volcano, artist Ilana Halperin knew that one day she would create work about Eldfell. That day has arrived as she tells Claire Sawers about the close links between humans and geology
here’s a lava bomb in Ilana Halperin’s new exhibition. But it’s no ordinary lava bomb: this one flew out of Eldfell volcano, mideruption, in 1973. It was gifted to Halperin by anthropologist Gísli Pálsson, whose childhood home was devoured by lava in that same eruption on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. While writing his memoir about Eldfell, Pálsson came across Halperin’s work which explores the intimate connections between humans and geology, pondering life’s bigger questions through the study of rocks, fossils, crystals and agates.
Pálsson and Halperin became colleagues and he posted the lava bomb to Halperin on her 45th birthday. ‘It’s amazing,’ says Halperin enthusiastically over Zoom, holding the dark grey rock up to her webcam. ‘It has this fluorescent orange tape around it saying in Icelandic: “Collected while still glowing”. I call it “Self Portrait As A Lava Bomb”. A lava bomb flies through the air, hardening as it cools, sometimes taking on the shape of the journey before it lands. It’s a very beautiful, evocative object; it records its journey from the inside of the earth, meeting air then eventually meeting land.’
The Glasgow-based artist started visiting Eldfell during a challenging time, just before she turned 30. Her father was ill with cancer and she was travelling regularly between Scotland and Maine to visit her parents; those flights to Boston stopped over in Iceland. Halperin was born the same year as the Eldfell volcano formed and she decided to celebrate her 30th birthday on its slopes. She has since returned for their joint 40th, 50th and 51st anniversaries.
‘Eldfell is the heart and core of the Fruitmarket exhibition. My relationship with the volcano serves as the entry point into all my work.’ The earliest work in this astonishing show is ‘Boiling Milk (Solfataras)’ from 1999, a photo of the artist heating milk in a saucepan in a hot sulphur spring in Iceland.
There is also a map drawing of Halperin’s (on loan from Glasgow’s Hunterian Collection) alongside sculptures from the calcifying springs of Fontaines Pétrifiantes de Saint-Nectaire in France, quartz crystals from New York and photos taken on field trips to Hawaii, Japan, Orkney and Mount Etna.
Her mind-blowing work contains enormous depths, touching on philosophical and spiritual themes as she examines the intersections between deep time and human time. ‘I’m interested in non-abstract ways to look at processes that seem incomprehensible; to open up places of reflection. Thinking of our human connections to lifeforms that are millions of years old. Eldfell will live a lot longer than me and at some point it will go from a shared, human life span to a geological life span and will keep going. Instead of focusing on ageing, loss and death, the Eldfell project has allowed me to reach out to other artists and academics. Instead of closing down, it has allowed this real opening up.’
Ilana Halperin: What Is Us And What Is Earth, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, until Sunday 17 May; part of the Royal Scottish Academy bicentenary.
THEATRE THE BACCHAE
Written and performed by Company Of Wolves artistic director Ewan Downie, The Bacchae is a stripped-back solo retelling of an ancient Greek tragedy, with only a few props supporting a compelling, poetic performance. It’s an approach that deepened Downie’s appreciation of the text. ‘In attempting to present a play about hordes of dancing bacchae with one performer, I discovered a sense that Dionysus is everyone: victimiser and victim, eater and the thing being eaten,’ says Downie.
Performing The Bacchae solo wasn’t an entirely new idea. Dr Michael Carroll (School Of Classics at St Andrews University) worked with Downie on the adaptation and found evidence that a one-person version was performed at Emperor Nero’s court in the first century AD, to great success. Downie believes performing on his own allows him to include more of the characters that were sidelined or suppressed in the original version; there’s certainly no doubt his gift for physical characterisation populates the stage.
The ancient Greek tragedies continue to be fruitful ground for theatre-makers. No matter how poetic the performance, there’s no ducking the darkness of the endings (spoiler alert: when it comes to stretching the acceptable limits of a mother/ son dance, the bacchae knock the Beckhams right out of the park). Is that why
bacchae that they continue to fascinate? ‘They crack open intense political, social and ethical dilemmas,’ adds Downie. ‘They’re a portal into questions of who we are and who we want to be. That’s exciting, scary and surprising, which makes great theatre.’ (Jo Laidlaw)
BBC broadcaster, author, actor, musician and DJ, Mr Galloway flicks through some music listings to choose top March gigs in variously sized rooms and across different genres . . .
way from the media glare and trending zeitgeist is often where most artists quietly conjure their unassuming masterpieces. Making music with The Hazey Janes and Idlewild, alongside many other collaborations, Andrew Wasylyk has gone solo in recent years and proved himself an exceptional composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. On the brink of a new album, Irreparable Parables, with vocal contributions from Gruff Rhys, Stuart Murdoch, Kathryn Joseph and Molly Linen, Wasylyk and his ensemble play Stirling Tolbooth, Aberdeen Lemon Tree, Edinburgh Pleasance, Glasgow Mackintosh Queen’s Cross and Marryat Hall in his Dundee hometown (Tuesday 3–Saturday 7 March). Trundling, hypnotic, unobtrusive and tender, his compositions tap into jazz, post-rock, neo-classical and ambient music to create something truly special.
The word ‘genius’ is too often bandied around in relation to musicians these days. Dearly departed Tim Smith was an actual visionary, however, and certainly someone deserving of the G-word. Once pilloried by pop purists who detest any kind of complexity or eccentricity, his brainchild Cardiacs are now achieving the plaudits they richly deserve. Years after leaving the world with a set of half-finished songs and scraps of collaged composition, former bandmates and fans rallied to complete his final album. LSD was released in 2025 to wide acclaim, holding the essence of Smith’s work while exploding along different tangents. Touring the project has exceeded all expectations and a venue upgrade from St Luke’s to Glasgow QMU (Friday 13 March) shows an appetite for their prog-punk magnificence.
Some bands have the ‘Marmite’ effect and current high flyers Geese split the crowd, with hipsters and classic-rock fans screaming the odds. Are they raggedly brilliant or annoyingly atonal? Find out for yourself as they make the move into bigger UK venues such as Barrowlands (Saturday 21 March). Cameron Winter and band holler for all their worth, so expect the lop-sided skronk of Tom Waits, the wailing indie of Cold War Kids and the freewheeling guitar shapes of Television. Ten years and four albums in, it looks like they’re doing something right. Honk, honk! Listen to Vic Galloway every Monday night on BBC Radio Scotland or anytime on BBC Sounds; Vic hosts From Punk To Paolo at Paisley Town Hall, Sunday 29 March, featuring Richard Jobson, Emma Pollock, Kathryn Joseph and C Duncan, as part of Paisley Arts Festival; Vic pic: Gareth Goodlad.
Geese
FILM TWO PROSECUTORS
When Russian-Ukrainian actor Aleksandr Kuznetsov received the script for his new film, the Stalin-era drama Two Prosecutors, it felt eerily familiar.
‘For us, it’s such normal stuff,’ he sighs. ‘Some of our friends right now in Russia are in political prisons, being starved. You can’t even write letters to them because 80% are destroyed and never go to the actual person.’
Set in 1937, amid Stalin’s Great Purge, Kuznetsov plays Kornyev, a morally upstanding state prosecutor who takes up the case of a political prisoner, an Old Bolshevik and victim of Russia’s secret police, the NKVD.
‘He thinks: “I just studied for ten years in law school. I just graduated. This is my first mission. I will be fighting for it. I will not allow myself to believe that the system is corrupted.”’ Written and directed by Ukrainian Sergei Loznitsa, it was a challenging shoot for Kuznetsov who had to adjust to his director’s way of working. ‘Sergei doesn’t talk too much with the actors. He will talk to you about fascism, Mussolini, Stalin’s process . . . ’ But any character discussions? ‘He would get super uncomfortable.’ Loznitsa, it seems, prefers the actor to do the interpreting. ‘When we started to actually rehearse, I understood that there’s such a huge level of trust in me; he just sees me as Kornyev.’
Kuznetsov offers a sublimely controlled performance, but it surely won’t get seen in his native Russia. The actor left Moscow after speaking out against Putin and now lives in Europe. The release of Two Prosecutors allows us to reflect on the terror of totalitarian governments and the fouryear long Ukraine-Russia conflict. ‘I was so confident that it would end in three months because it’s so absurd,’ says Kuznetsov. ‘This war has no grounds at all. But then not everything happens the way you imagine.’
(James Mottram)
In cinemas from Friday 27 March.
DANCE SNOW WHITE
The reasons for our fascination with fairytales are much debated. Some say they appeal to our ancient yearning for eternal truths; others see them as shapeshifting receptacles, ready to be moulded to the teller’s beliefs or those of their time. For choreographers, their magical realms have long seemed irresistible. Liv Lorent, award-winning choreographer and artistic director of BalletLorent, has never been keen on the tights and crowns of ballet, or what she calls the ‘impoverished men and women’ and ‘abject misery’ of physical theatre; her interest has always lain in stories and emotions.
BalletLorent’s 2015 production of Snow White has recently been restaged and promises both those elements in abundance as she seeks to delve into the story’s inherent darkness. The point, for Lorent, has always been to leave audiences moved rather than befuddled, and dance theatre, which combines the clarity of storytelling and the dreamlike abstraction of choreography, has always seemed like the ideal medium.
Lorent’s is a female-led company, which seems particularly apt for the production’s timely twist on the tale in which the Evil Queen is Snow White’s mother. It is also, says Lorent, ‘a stark warning of the dangers of becoming forever spellbound by the obsessive search for eternal beauty’. Written by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and narrated by Sarah Parish, this is a family-friendly spectacle that isn’t afraid of the darker truths in fairytales. Perhaps this darkness in enchanted settings is precisely the reason we keep going back to them. (Dom Czapski)
Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, Friday 13 & Saturday 14 March; Tramway, Glasgow, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 March.
MUSIC GOVAN MUSIC FESTIVAL
There’s no stopping The Glasgow Barons. Almost ten years down the line from artistic director Paul MacAlindin starting to make music with community groups and local people, layer upon layer of musical activity is now embedded in the lifeblood of Govan. Bringing it all together, the week-long Govan Music Festival has everything from the award-winning Musicians In Exile and DJs to Schubert and James MacMillan, via a torrent of styles, whether world, ceilidh, classical, schools or pop (plus there’s a bhangra night featuring Rootless and Cosmic Dance).
‘We kick off with Musicians In Exile and their first-time collaboration with Glasgow University Trad Society,’ says MacAlindin. ‘Both groups are grassroots and the way they learn music by ear is similar.’ Featuring a diverse cultural mix of asylum seekers, Musicians In Exile bring their own traditions together with that of their new home in Scotland. Younger generations have a festival platform to showcase their energetic enthusiasm with The Great Govan Sea Voyage, acknowledging the area’s historic links to shipbuilding as well as creating a brand-new piece of music theatre.
‘We’ve been helping local schools to cultivate their choirs,’ explains MacAlindin, ‘and have brought in composer Karen MacIver and writer John Binnie to help the children create and perform a new musical from scratch. It uses shipbuilding as one of their learning themes, incorporating a ceilidh as Scots leave by boat for Canada. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Govan and it represents a big step forward in stimulating the children’s own creativity.’ For MacAlindin, the festival is part of an organic process. ‘At its heart, it’s about regeneration through music, getting as many people as possible out of their front door, seeing potential in their own activities and sharing music collectively.’ (Carol Main)
Various venues, Glasgow, Sunday 22–Saturday 28 March.
FILM HIPPFEST
HippFest has always boasted a fantastic blend of silent cinema from Scotland as well as further afield, and the festival has revealed an even more global programme for its 16th edition, showcasing films from Sweden to Japan. While these silents may hail from many cultures, they are united in their focus on indigenous and folk stories, spotlighting our relationships with the land.
Opening night presents Norway’s first indigenous film, Fante-Anne, which chronicles the relationship of an orphan girl and a farm boy set against a backdrop of everyday rural life and traditions. Fante-Anne also receives a modern makeover with an all-new live score mixing traditional folk with modern electronica. The tunes continue into the night at Folkemølje after-party, where folk meets . . . well, pretty much every genre. Another original folk score accompanies Finis Terrae. The film, shown in collaboration with Cinetopia and Edinburgh Film Guild, follows four seaweed harvesters living in isolation off the coast of Brittany. As suspicion infects the group, the landscape takes on a life of its own, with rock and sea reflecting the suppressed wildness inside these men. It wouldn’t be HippFest, however, without some unsung gems of early Scottish cinema. New Found Sound presents three shorts from the National Library Of Scotland’s archives with accompaniment by young Falkirk musicians. Winter In Scotland captures the frozen landscape of a century ago, An Evening Sail details a boat trip gone wrong, while Witch Craft celebrates the pioneering technical achievements of Jean L Gray, one of Edinburgh’s earliest and most experimental female filmmakers.
Get yourself away from the central belt and out into various parts of Scotland where the cultural landscape is just as rich and varied. Among the upcoming highlights are a reworking of a Greek myth and a comedy show about having deaf parents
ABERDEEN
JORDAN GRAY
The death threats couldn’t keep singer-turned stand-up Jordan Gray down and she’s taking the joyous show that stormed the Fringe last summer across this merry nation. Is That A Cock In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Here to Kill Me? upturns several misconceptions, while staying funny all the way through.
n Lemon Tree, Sunday 15 March.
DUNDEE
MEDEA
With Nicole Cooper in the title role, Kathy McKean has reworked Euripides’ Greek classic to focus on how Medea was abandoned by Jason and then sought to wreak bloody vengeance.
n Dundee Rep, Wednesday 4 March.
INVERNESS
SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE
A quartet from the ensemble bring their northern audience Between Light And Shadow, which features Mozart’s ‘Spring Quartet’, Caroline Shaw’s ‘Essays’ and a whole heap of Ludwig van Beethoven.
n Eden Court, Tuesday 10 March.
KELSO BORDERS ART FAIR
Featuring content from 80 artists, makers and galleries plus workshops and a food hall, the event dubbed ‘Scotland’s friendliest arts fair’ returns with another fiesta of contemporary art.
n Borders Event Centre, Friday 13–Sunday 15 March.
KIRKCALDY DEAR EARTH
How are artists responding to our fragile planet? Here’s one example with this exhibition which helps mark Fife Contemporary’s 20th anniversary, including the likes of Ade Adesina, Jenny Pope and Will Carey.
n Kirkcaldy Galleries, Saturday 21 March–Sunday 13 September.
NEW GALLOWAY
SOLÈNE WEINACHTER
The nation-trotting Parisian dancer/choreographer says she lives between ‘my suitcase, Dundee and Marseille’. But for one night she settles into New Galloway with After All, her piece about funerals.
n CatStrand, Friday 20 March.
PERTH
RAY BRADSHAW
Being raised a child of deaf adults (the acronym CODA gives this show its title) has handed Scottish comic Bradshaw acres of material. In this one, he tackles how his dad would keep winning arguments and recalls playing charades at Christmas.
n Perth Theatre, Thursday 12 March.
PITLOCHRY
SCOTTISH ROOTS
As part of Scottish Dance Theatre’s 40th anniversary celebrations, this triple bill brings together talents such as Tess Letham and Sofia Nappi as well as the company’s artistic director Joan Clevillé.
n Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Saturday 14 March.
STIRLING
JASMIN VARDIMON: NOW
Iconic pieces from the dance company’s back catalogue are revamped to capture the modern moment and help toast another landmark, this time the 25th birthday of Vardimon’s group.
n Macrobert Arts Centre, Friday 6 March.
Jasmin Vardimon: Now (and bottom from left), Dear Earth, Jordan Gray, Medea, Scottish Roots
An ambitious movie directed by a rising star of German cinema, Sound Of Falling might be too grim for some tastes. But Emma Simmonds lauds this hauntingly beautiful tale of death, cruelty and bad luck across four generations
Winner of last year’s Cannes Jury Prize, Sound Of Falling is the stunning sophomore film from German writer-director Mascha Schilinski. Her first, Dark Blue Girl, was made as a student, starred breakout star Helena Zengel and was nominated for best first feature at the 2017 Berlinale. Set in the Altmark region of Germany, Schilinski’s follow-up introduces us to four generations of girls, raised on the same farm over the course of more than a century.
It’s a film that highlights the grim hand the female sex has been dealt historically, the role social status plays and the possible transmission of trauma. Sound Of Falling resists a conventional narrative structure, snaking back and forth through time with an almost spectral-like subtlety and unfolding in a way that somehow feels natural. Memories and bodily experiences become collective, with stories overlapping, echoing and merging as if they’re bleeding into one another.
In the 1910s we meet seven-year-old Alma (Hanna Heckt), one of many siblings being raised in an austere setting shrouded in death, cruelty and misfortune. We witness the passing of several family members, the abuse of maid Trudi (Luzia Oppermann) and the injuries inflicted on Alma’s brother Fritz and sister Lia (Filip Schnack and Greta Krämer), much of it viewed as if through Alma’s own eyes. And yet we also see moments of childish joy, that act like shafts of light in the gloom, as the siblings play pranks and share expressions of affection.
We find an older Fritz (now played by Martin Rother) bedbound in the 1940s, where he’s become a source of fascination for his teenage niece Erika (Lea Drinda) who develops an unhealthy interest in his amputated leg. Later, in a section set in the 1980s, Erika’s grown-up sister Irm (Claudia Geisler-Bading) has to contend with a rebellious teenager of her own, her daughter Angelika (Lena Urzendowksy), who we see engaging in inappropriate flirtations with her uncle Uwe (Konstantin Lindhorst), as well as her cousin Rainer (Florian Geißelmann).
Things are brought up to date in 2020s-set scenes which follow Angelika’s daughter Christa (Luise Heyer) who is renovating the old family farm after moving there from the city. We see her daughter Lenka (Laeni Geiseler) befriend a more confident village girl Kaya (Ninel Geiger) whose mother has recently died, and who looks to Christa for comfort. Although the set-up feels less fraught, the family’s own tragedy lurks just around the corner.
Working with a tight budget which only allowed for 34 days of shooting, Schilinski has moved mountains. The director and her co-writer Louise Peter were inspired to write the lm a er spending a summer in the Altmark region, halfway between Berlin and Hamburg, near the Elbe River. They discovered a farm, which had stood empty for 50 years, and came across a photo of three women from 1920 staring straight at the camera, becoming curious about their stories. Schilinski felt one of the keys to success was nding faces to suit the relevant time periods and the team held open castings in which they saw around 1400 girls over the course of a year, with the eventual, signi cantly sized ensemble a seamless blend of rst-timers and established actors.
Despite the tumultuous time periods in which the girls are living, the stories presented are distinctly feminine and intimate; although somewhat shielded from external horrors, they have little protection from more personal ones. If the grim subject matter will undoubtedly be a challenge for many, what could have been a punishing watch is rendered hauntingly beautiful by Schilinski and her cinematographer husband Fabian Gamper, taking inspiration from the work of US photographer Francesca Woodman, who died by suicide aged just 22, and has become known for her black-and-white portraits.
Although it’s an inarguably sad collection of stories, as tragedy touches every generation of this family and the girls’ fates feel inescapable, Sound Of Falling occasionally lacks the expected emotion, wrapped, as it is, in a dreamlike, frequently wordless haze that feels akin to the way we experience memories. Nevertheless, the skill of Schilinski’s execution is sublime, with the lm’s visual poetry, ow and the daringness of her direction marking her out as a vital new cinematic voice.
Sound Of Falling is in cinemas from Friday 6 March.
film of the month
Mascha Schilinski
ART BAHAR NOORIZADEH: THE DEBTOR’S PORTAL
Throwing visitors into an unsettling, dystopian environment, The Debtor’s Portal tackles head-on how economic systems shape the world. Fusing finance, digital technology and urban life, it attempts to present alternative solutions to current social constructs. This is the largest UK solo exhibition to date by Iranian-Canadian artist, writer and filmmaker Bahar Noorizadeh. With a practice encompassing sci-fi, political theory, experimental film and collaborative performance, Noorizadeh pits capitalism against creative imagination and a future that could be fairer for all.
The exhibition centres on two main video works, alongside some smaller pieces, as well as work-in-progress ‘Reuter In Tehran’ (2026) which will culminate in a live performance at the end of the exhibition’s run. On the ground floor, ‘Teslaism: Economics After The End Of The End Of The Future’ (2022) greets visitors on a large screen. Taking the form of a videogame, a self-driving car (which chats to its owner) is chauffeuring Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a meeting while crossing a futuristic Berlin landscape where one of his Gigafactories is located. Musk’s inner fears play out while he spouts jargon that even the AI bot doesn’t fully understand.
Upstairs, the financial science-fiction opera ‘Free To Choose’ (2023) plays, surrounded by ten oversized mirrored boards. This surreal CGI film is set in a future Hong Kong, adopting the operatic form and dealing with dramatic events in the wake of an economic crash. Inhabitants are bound by financial systems, serving their company, all the while delivering fantastical and farcical performances.
While The Debtor’s Portal should be commended for exploring serious social and political themes in collaborative, stimulating and inventive ways, the exhibition’s strong rooting in academia tends to overshadow the impact of the visual works. (Jennifer McLaren)
Cooper Gallery, Dundee, until Saturday 11 April.
THEATRE SAINT JOAN
Defiance goes digital in Saint Joan, a clinically precise reworking of an unproduced 1930s George Bernard Shaw screenplay. Stewart Laing reframes the narrative through a modernist, film-inflected lens, stripping the staging to an exposed studio where blinding light replaces theatrical shadow. The effect is intentionally disorienting: a world of lethargy and institutional inaction dissected under unforgiving glare as Joan Of Arc’s divine resolve collides with a culture of complacency.
In her professional debut, Mandipa Kabanda is commanding, imbuing Joan with a clarity of purpose. Yet Laing’s abstraction, using fragmented digital devices and filmic interruptions, sometimes blunts the emotional stakes. The production’s most potent moment arrives only after the cast exit, when Adura Onashile’s filmed sequence reframes Joan as a contemporary influencer broadcasting a call to action. This coda lands with a force the preceding conceptual haze struggles to match.
Yaseen Clarke’s sound design, Michaella Fee’s lighting and Onashile’s filmed material maintain a high level of craft, though the layering of stylistic devices risks thematic oversaturation. Costuming sharpens the critique: the court appears in casual gear while Kabanda’s Joan wears a school uniform, a pointed infantilisation exposing the bloated establishment’s fear of the young women they patronise, perverse and police.
The structure is cold, methodical and deliberately enigmatic, offering theatre with distinction and intellectual bite. Yet the abstraction dilutes the intention. Laing’s vision remains unmistakable though: Saint Joan rising from rallying ashes with rejuvenated purpose, its valour walking a fine line between illumination and obfuscation. (Dominic Corr)
Pity the critic evaluating a show which is purposebuilt to change in its entirety at every performance. Story Platform offers one of those quandaries, with its brand-new writing and revolving door of cast members; vouching for its quality is like reviewing a restaurant that murders its head chef every few weeks. Yet its warm embrace of straight-out-of-the-oven comedy (some of it pulled together the morning before a performance) is something to be unequivocally championed.
Taking the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants process of Saturday Night Live as its inspiration, a pleasant but ramshackle air pervades this sketch comedy experiment. A motley crew of local talent meet up on the last Monday of every month, spend a few days cranking out sketches on a particular theme, then road test an hour or so of useable gags for Friday night’s shows (there are two performances, at 7.30pm and 9pm).
A degree of grace is to be given by the audience; as Story Platform regular Chris Thorburn recommends in his introduction, be enthusiastic for the material you enjoy and nod politely at the material you don’t. White-knuckling the comedy writing leads to a wealth of sketches that zip by at an incredible speed, playing to the strengths of performers accustomed to tailoring their skits to the lean world of Instagram and TikTok. There’s a decent hit rate, and one or two home runs (a sketch about an animatronic corpse, one involving a blottoed driving instructor, and an orientation class
for American tourists were personal highlights). Plenty of others bombed or needed tweaking, while a few brilliantly written skits simply failed to connect (a parody combining BetterHelp ads with the ballistic beliefs of Sigmund Freud was met with stone-cold silence despite whip-smart pacing). Whether wins or losses, the buoyancy from everyone involved makes even line stumbles and fumbles resemble Peter Cook’s well-timed corpsing more than an amateur hour of patience testing.
Joining in with the fun is a who’s who for anyone familiar with Scotland’s current crop of stand-ups, with turns from Kim Blythe, Amelia Bayler, Maddie Fernando, Eleanor Morton, Chris Thorburn, Daniel Petrie, Rebecca Bain, Alana Jackson and Mirren Wilson. Some sketches feel like well-worn shoes (no one does a brusque tour guide quite like Morton, and Blythe’s gormlessness is a tried and tested crowd-pleaser) while others gamely swim out of their depth.
You won’t receive a highly polished hour if you visit Story Platform and it would be unfair to expect otherwise. What you can enjoy is watching a group of up-and-coming performers given time and space to tease out new and exciting ideas. If nurtured correctly, this format could run and run, becoming as much of a fixture on Edinburgh’s comedy scene as Red Raw and Top Banana.
comedy of the month
Story Platform is a live sketch comedy format that zips through its freshly created routines at a bewildering rate. Kevin Fullerton admires the concept and salutes the performances
Story Platform happens at The Gilded Saloon, Edinburgh on the final Friday of every month; pictures: Louise Thomas.
This lovable, colourful animation from French writer-director Ugo Bienvenu takes us on a journey through time in the company of intrepid young adventurer Arco. Boasting Studio Ghibli-esque magic and a story inspired by Spielberg’s ET, the film has ample appeal for the whole family and has been rewarded with a Best Animated Feature nomination at this year’s Academy Awards.
Opening in the year 2932, it follows Arco (voiced by Oscar Tresanini), a ten-year-old boy from a family of rainbow-clad time travellers. Desperate to get in on the act, he defies his protective parents and hurtles back to the year 2075 unaccompanied, where he finds society engulfed in tech and on the brink of collapse. As Arco struggles to get back to the future, he’s joined in his quest by Iris (Margo Ringard Oldra), a little girl being cared for, alongside her baby brother, by robot nanny Mikki while their parents are away working.
Made entirely in Paris by Remembers Studio (who specialise in 2D animation), Arco was conceived by first-time feature filmmaker Bienvenu during the pandemic, which he describes as like living through ‘really bad science fiction’. He felt the time was right for a positive spin on bleak times. Delivering spectacular landscapes drawn with a delicate hand, Arco vividly imagines the near and not-so-near future (with the latter encouragingly idyllic), while its poignant portrayal of a nurturing robot offers a sympathetic take on AI, à la The Wild Robot. Testament to the quality of this visually distinctive production, the dubbed version features the likes of Natalie Portman (who also acts as a producer), Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Mark Ruffalo. Eco-conscious and emotional, Arco is a stunningly rendered story of striking out on your own and finding friendship along the way. (Emma Simmonds)
In cinemas from Friday 20 March.
COMEDY SCHALK BEZUIDENHOUT: HEY HEY DIVORCÉ
A somewhat unlikely booking for Valentine’s weekend, Schalk Bezuidenhout’s latest show feels compellingly raw in the wake of his recent divorce. But it’s mercifully free of the insidious recrimination, sly point-scoring and comedy as catharsis that overwhelms some comedians’ break-up routines. The generally placid, amiable, even camply nebbish South African has added considerable emotional turbulence to his delivery, often decrying himself for his besotted naivety.
He frequently bristles with rage. And he periodically vents or exasperatedly seethes. Yet the explosions tend to be directed at the estate agents who sold him a dream home that’s actually a nightmare, while his grousing is at the smug, still-married friends who offer him unsolicited advice about dating. Mindful, perhaps, of having a certain celebrity in his home country and knowing his ex-wife has no right-to-reply, Bezuidenhout is more than evenhanded in the respect he reserves for her. She remains unnamed and scarcely sketched at all, virtually abstract, leaving the passages he shares from his touching wedding speech to convey the love, loss and pain that he’s felt.
But, while much of his ire is directed at himself, considerably more is attributed to the cruel, capricious hand of fate. Although wiser and more jaded now at 33, belatedly realising that in stand-up he has a mistress who will always have some spell over him, Hey Hey Divorcé is surprisingly optimistic about love. Partly, that’s a necessity: Bezuidenhout is now seeing a younger woman who’s good value for some bewildering generation-clash observations. But it also feels like he’s made a conscious decision to seek silver linings, even when toiling through a brutal ultra-marathon as some kind of masochistic self-punishment after the split. Heartbreak has no right to be this uplifting, nor as perceptive, thoughtful or woundedly funny. (Jay Richardson)
Reviewed at The Stand, Glasgow.
comedy• •ydemoc
ART
STILL GLASGOW
When I came to study in Glasgow in the 1990s, I used to walk to university along Duke Street, passing the hulking Great Eastern Hotel, a homeless hostel. A few of its residents would gather outside each morning, sometimes already the worse for drink. Those who wandered up Sauchiehall Street could enjoy the songs of the buskers. One had dreadlocks and a guitar and sang a mean version of Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’. Both groups, the homeless men and the street musicians, even the dreadlocked busker of memory, are present in Goma’s Still Glasgow, a photographic portrait of the city which offers a nostalgic hit but little aesthetic punch.
It is modest to the point of underwhelming: three small rooms, arranged around themes of community, portraiture and the meaning of place. The middle room contains the best-known pictures, best known for a reason. Here are the gallus icons: Bert Hardy’s ‘The Gorbals Boys’, Joseph McKenzie’s ‘Beatle Girl’ (pictured), Oscar Marzaroli’s ‘The Castlemilk Lads’. Elsewhere, too many pictures seem to have been selected as documents of place and period but lack any special quality in themselves. Works of charm, therefore, stand out. ‘Frances Gordon, Glasgow Teenager’ is a 1977 portrait by Alasdair Gray, a painting of a young worker at the People’s Palace, framed by a collage of items from her handbag, including a ticket stub for Elton John at the Apollo (price £3).
Equally delightful is Roderick Buchanan’s ‘Gobstopper’, a 1999 video work in which children hold their breath while travelling through the Clyde Tunnel. One wee boy exhales in pleasure and relief on exiting in Govan, a noise somewhere between a sneeze and the pop of a champagne cork. A small moment of joy in an exhibition that could do with more of them. (Peter Ross) Gallery Of Modern Art, Glasgow, until Sunday 13 June 2027.
FILM THE TASTERS
Food, with its emotive connotations and potential for weaponisation, has always been a ripe subject through which to examine cruelty. In Silvio Soldini’s adaptation of Rosella Postorino’s novel, a group of women are forcibly recruited to taste Hitler’s meals for poison during the paranoid final years of World War II. It’s a story whose authenticity is uncertain (Hitler’s food tasters were unknown until 2012 when 95-year-old Margot Wölk claimed to have been one of them) but to dwell on that would be to miss the point; historical drama’s purpose is not necessarily to document but to harness an era’s circumstances and ask ‘what if?’ in order to examine deeper truths.
In this sense The Tasters succeeds, serving up a messy tangle of shifting relationships against a terrifying backdrop. Rosa Sauer travels to live with her in-laws near Hitler’s notorious Wolf’s Lair bunker, while her husband fights on the Russian front. Before long she’s hauled in as part of the tasting group. The film excellently depicts the clinical, bureaucratic cruelty of the Nazi regime; the women are medically examined, presented with a feast and only afterwards told of their mortal danger.
However, the role of food recedes as the drama turns its focus instead on friendships and dangerous affairs. It’s a pity the film loses that thematic clarity, but despite this (and a tendency towards expository dialogue), The Tasters paints a vivid picture of the grim circumstances under which Germans were forced to exist; with the threat of death in every direction, even from an innocuous bowl of soup. (Lucy Ribchester)
In cinemas from Friday 13 March.
Motionhouse (and
OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR
If you fancy getting out and about this month, there’s plenty culture to sample such as a celebration of suffragette activism, a star-laden Pixar movie about a robotic beaver, another take on a fabled monster myth and some banging techno in Glasgow
ART SIMON PHIPPS
Brutal Scotland examines the country’s post-war modernist architecture, a photographic exhibition which took Phipps from Inverness to Galashiels. n Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, until Saturday 16 May.
DANCE MOTIONHOUSE
The acclaimed dance-circus company deliver a multimedia presentation, Hidden, stamped by a message that light can still be found in the darkest of times. Revel in gravity-defying choreography, an emotive soundscape and shape-shifting set.
n Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tuesday 17 March.
FESTIVAL ACTING UP
Protests And Suffragettes host an evening of music and short talks celebrating women’s activism, in particular the Holloway Jingles, a collection of poetry written by a group of imprisoned suffragettes and later published in Glasgow.
n Kinning Park Complex, Glasgow, Thursday 12 March.
FILM
THE BRIDE
With a stirring role in Hamnet in the bag, this looks like being a bumper year for Jessie Buckley as she now appears in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s movie as Frankenstein’s missus. Christian Bale plays the monster.
n In cinemas from Friday 6 March.
HOPPERS
Pixar bounce back as teenager Mabel embodies a robotic beaver to foil a nasty construction company’s destructive plan. Starry names lending their voices include Jon Hamm and Meryl Streep plus, unlikely as it seems, TV duo Alan Carr and Amanda Holden.
n In cinemas from Friday 6 March.
KIDS
PEPPA PIG
With a new arrival on the way, Peppa’s family home needs a bit of a makeover and you can all help to get everything ready before little baby Evie pops out.
n Edinburgh Playhouse, Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 March.
MUSIC PRESSURE
A top French producer and DJ, the constantly inventive Vitalic mixes rock, punk and disco to a powerful degree while Slam produce a 90s techno set.
n SWG3, Glasgow, Saturday 28 March.
EDINBURGH ROYAL CHORAL UNION
The Brussels Choral Society join ERCU and Scottish Opera’s orchestra for a performance of Poulenc’s ‘Gloria’ and Bruckner’s ‘Mass In D Minor’.
n Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 15 March.
THEATRE
THE SWANSONG
Written and directed by Eve Nicol and featuring a soundtrack from Finn Anderson, this latest in the A Play, A Pie And A Pint programme is a joyous musical about a desperate woman, a smooth-talking water bird and a big night out in Edinburgh.
bottom from left), Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, Hoppers, Acting Up, The Bride
staying in
A previous winner of the Nordic Council Music Prize, Iceland’s Gyða Valtýsdóttir first emerged as part of indietronica experimentalists Múm before launching a highly successful solo career. Her latest collection is Mother Pearl, a brooding, evocative gem with layered, epic pieces such as ‘Living Waters’ and ‘Mirror’, both so powerful they could move planets. Fun fact: alongside her twin sister, Valtýsdóttir can be seen on the cover of Belle And Sebastian’s 2000 album Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant. (Brian Donaldson) Released by Marvaða on Friday 20 March.
BE THE CHANGE
Edinburgh imprint MuseumsEtc produces a diverse and distinctive range of books. The publisher’s driving force Graeme Farnell tells Neil Cooper that a common thread binds it all together
Since 2008 or thereabouts, MuseumsEtc has published more than 100 titles that fuse photography, social history and politics in a series of beautifully bespoke editions. Three new books sum up the quietly radical ethos of the Edinburgh-based but avowedly internationalist independent imprint. Jo Spence: The Unknown Recordings compiles transcripts of tapes made by the feminist writer and photographer that reveal an unflinching and at times painful look at her life and work as a low-paid working-class artist. The texts are accompanied by images taken in her cramped Islington flat that make for an intimate and unsettling self-portrait of one of the late 20th century’s most singular of artists.
The Erasure Of Palestine collects more than 80 images taken over three years by photographer Ahmad Al-Bazz showing what remains of the hundreds of towns and villages depopulated and destroyed during the creation and expansion of Israel from 1948 to now.
Culture And Capitalism, meanwhile, is a collection of essays by cultural theorist Henry Giroux. In a series of new works that dissect neo-liberalism, Giroux posits the notion that culture has become the central battleground in the struggle against all-encroaching authoritarianism and stands on the frontline of this fight.
‘On the face of it, they look like very different books,’ says MuseumEtc’s founder Graeme Farnell. ‘One is about Palestine, one is about an artist who died quite a few years ago now, and one is by a Canadian academic. But they’re all really looking at culture and art and photography in the context of capitalism. What we’re interested in is the way in which artists, or photographers in particular, can use their art to really argue against all the things that we know are not right.’
As a former museum curator, Farnell initially published books for museums and galleries before developing an interest in photography. Rather than looking at recent history in gritty black and white, however, MuseumsEtc’s focus is on socially engaged new work. ‘There are plenty of things that need to change,’ says Farnell, ‘and we would like to facilitate and encourage photographers to play a role in that. Therefore, we’re publishing books by photographers, or in one case an academic, who are cogent about the changes they want and are making a big effort to make them happen.’
More information can be found at museumsetc.com
LISTEN BACK
Time to partake in another alphabet-themed rundown of particularly pleasant albums. This time our phonograph is plying the letter P
Hats o to you, Ethel Cain. Alienating your core audience almost immediately a er releasing a debut album is a baller move. Having cribbed from Lana Del Rey’s breathy poetry in Preacher’s Daughter, follow-up Perverts (2025) was a remarkable departure into ambient drone and gospel which, despite its forbidding palette, gave Cain space to play with textures untethered from commercial ambition. Underwater wobbles from cheap cassettes, ominous creeping notes, asthmatic hu ng and refrigerator buzz are all toyed with, leavened by sparing use of her undeniably gorgeous vocals.
Wholly unsuccessful in his youth, Nick Nicely’s o -kilter blend of psychedelia, electronica and pastoral nostalgia has aged remarkably well since dying a death in the 1980s. Psychotropia (2003), a compilation which elevated him to cult hero status, showcases his eye for pop hooks and melodies, situating him somewhere between the android evasiveness of Gary Numan and the LSD jaunt of The Grateful Dead. ‘Hilly Fields’ and ’49 Cigars’ have had a seismic in uence on artists as wide-ranging as Ariel Pink and Zola Jesus. (Kevin Fullerton) Other P albums: Pain Olympics by Crack Cloud (2020), Paris 1919 by John Cale (1973), Psychic Cinema by Primitive Ignorant (2025).
Tfuture sound
Our column celebrating new music to watch continues with Irish singer-songwriter and producer Étáin. The Edinburgh-based artist tells Fiona Shepherd about sitting in on band rehearsals as a toddler and her tendency towards nostalgia
hese days, Ireland’s Étáin can’t get enough of the diverse arts scene in her adopted home of Edinburgh, where she can collaborate with writers, dancers and playwrights. This hive of creative activity stands in direct contrast to her upbringing in rural County Leitrim. ‘I lived a 20-minute drive from the nearest shop,’ recalls the singer/songwriter/producer. ‘Being on my own in an isolated area I had that freedom to develop my imagination: we didn’t even have broadband access until I was 17! I guess I just gravitated towards music.’
Initially, music was play: messing around on piano and creating melodies from the age of nine. But having started playing guitar and becoming more immersed in songwriting, she was able to draw on the support of musician parents. Her mum and dad were members of 80s rock band Diesel Heart and Étáin recalls sitting in on band rehearsals as a tot. When she started booking her own gigs as a young teenager, mum was a sympathetic driver. ‘I’d practice in the car on the way to the gig and do my homework on the way home,’ she notes. ‘It was a lot of driving round the country; late nights and then school the next day. It was like living two different lives.’
After school, Étáin moved to Dublin to study law and plugged into the Irish speaking music community there. A year in London was followed by a move to Glasgow to work for music and mental health charity Help Musicians. Coincidentally her grandfather had emigrated to Glasgow at the age of 14. ‘It was such different
circumstances. He went over speaking only Irish and worked as a farm labourer. There was a bit of anti-Irish sentiment at the time so he would have to sleep with the livestock. That was the way it was until he started working in construction in the city. It really hit me that the generational gap was so big.’
Étáin has now settled in Edinburgh where she completed a masters in music and recruited a band to record her debut album. The Well showcases her delicate folk-flavoured pop across a dozen songs, written over a number of years but recorded in one batch. There are paeans to her childhood home (‘12 Woodlands Avenue’) and her initial time in Scotland (‘Raining In Glasgow’).
‘Nostalgia is a strong theme that comes through in my work,’ she admits. ‘For me the well is this place where all my experiences, all my emotions, everything that is the source of my songwriting comes from; so this album is a love letter to that source which has given me so much over the years. The thing that drives me even now is the songwriting; that’s my first love. I heard someone describe it as more of a behaviour than an activity. If everything else stopped, there’s just no way I could stop myself from writing songs.’
The Well is released digitally on Friday 20 March; Étáin performs at The Caves, Edinburgh, on Thursday 16 April; picture: Elena Stanley.
first writes
In this Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘firsts’ at debut novelists. This month we feature Monika Radojevic, author of Strangerland, a 1990-set tale featuring the chance encounter between a European man and a South American woman both fleeing their homelands to find hope in an unexpected place
What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? The Clarice Bean series by Lauren Child. They were so funny and creative. I was obsessed.
What was the book you read that made you decide to be a writer? I’ve wanted to write books from the moment I learned to read. It wasn’t so much a book that caused that, but their ability to transport me to an entirely new world with new rules, o en where children had more freedom than they do in reality. Harry Potter, A Series Of Unfortunate Events, The Princess Diaries, His Dark Materials, Artemis Fowl: these series shaped my understanding of the power of ction and imagination.
What’s your favourite first line in a book? ‘When Kitty Finch took her hand o the steering wheel and told him she loved him, he no longer knew if she was threatening him or having a conversation’: Swimming Home by Deborah Levy.
Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you? Arundhati Roy’s The God Of Small Things blew my mind. I’d never seen anyone write with the kind of fearless experimentation that she does. It made me realise how limitless literature can be.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Journal for half an hour, read for half an hour, turn o my phone.
What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? Either watch something wildly entertaining with a giant plate of food or go do something/see someone. Writing is weird in that it requires a level of selfobsession, so to avoid becoming a very boring person I try to leave my house and my own brain as o en as I can.
In a parallel universe where you’re the tyrant leader of a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? Jordan Peterson’s crap.
What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? Read more and read wider, including genres you’d normally ignore.
Strangerland is published by #Merky Books on Thursday 5 March; picture: Barnaby Boulton.
GAMES MARATHON
In 1994, Bungie released Marathon, a Mars-set FPS for Apple Mac that offered single-player and multiplayer ‘deathmatches’, giving Mac owners an alternative to the original Doom (it was finally ported to PC for free 30 years later). Two sequels followed in as many years before Bungie moved on to bigger things with Halo and Destiny, two once-huge franchises whose standings have slipped in recent times. Now, Bungie is resurrecting Marathon as a big-budget extraction shooter, a genre currently dominated by the enormously popular ARC Raiders
Set on a distant alien world, small teams battle each other (and the environment) on a shrinking map before, hopefully, extracting to safety. Originally due for release last September, the game was delayed until March following negative feedback during public testing. Development was further overshadowed by plagiarism accusations from a Scottish artist and a period of creative churn at the very top.
While things appear to have steadied since, publisher Sony (which bought Bungie for an astonishing $3.6 billion in 2022) will be desperate to avoid a repeat of Concord, its 2024 online shooter that was reportedly budgeted at $400 million and shut down after just 11 days. Featuring a large cast of high-profile voice talent and a multiplatform launch, with extensive live service elements competing against established rivals, Marathon represents a significant investment for Sony. There is huge pressure on Bungie to deliver. (Murray Robertson) Released on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S on Thursday 5 March.
TV DETECTIVE HOLE
Analysing our love for flawed detectives would take more words than are available here, but love them we most certainly do. The winning combination of brilliant mind and terrible personal life draws readers and viewers back time and again, and Harry Hole is one of the genre’s big hitters. With a backlog of sorrow and a fondness for drowning it in Jim Beam, this detective is the subject of 13 books by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø. Each of them is a compelling, page-turning read, dark as night and unflinching in their brutality.
Those of us who devoured each offering the second it was translated into English have a very particular Harry in our heads. So, whoever the producers chose to fill the main man’s shoes in this Netflix series could never quite match our imaginations. But Tobias Santelmann does a good line in drunken depression and caustic chat, wearing his handsomeness with almost enough alcohol-induced depreciation.
Based on The Devil’s Star, book five in the Hole series, this new TV venture features a serial killer running wild in Oslo, a dirty cop running amok in the police department and Harry himself running up a series of misdemeanours with his lady love and her young son. For those new to Nesbø’s troubled hero, there are twists and turns aplenty in the main case, while Hole’s backstory slowly unveils itself. The details of each gruesome crime may well have blended into one for avid readers, but this is a chance to delight in Hole’s takedown of nasty detective Tom Waaler all over again. (Kelly Apter)
Available on Netflix from Thursday 26 March
In this column, we ask a pod person about the ’casts that mean a lot to them. This month, it’s Jenny Kleeman, the author, broadcaster and Orwell Prizewinning journalist who brings us Ransom Man, the latest investigative series under the Intrigue umbrella. From its chilling beginnings to murky conclusion, Kleeman explores the extraordinary story of Julius Kivimäki who hacked and held to ransom the psychotherapy notes of over 33,000 patients in Finland
my perfect podcast
Which podcast educates you? I love the Past Present Future podcast, presented by David Runciman, who taught me politics when I was a student. I am literally volunteering to spend my spare time listening to someone who was once my teacher. I have never heard anyone better able to explain complex things in a simple way.
Which podcast makes you laugh? If Books Could Kill. There but for the grace of god goes any non- ction author. The hosts can be snarky and they are primed to hate everything, but there’s nothing like hearing a good takedown of a very popular book.
Which podcast makes you sad or angry? I don’t choose to listen to things that make me sad or angry. The Longform podcast makes me sad because it isn’t made anymore.
Which podcast is your guilty pleasure? The Rest Is Entertainment, but I don’t let myself feel guilty about it. I nd most of the ‘always on’ podcasts quite disposable and thin but there’s nothing like Marina Hyde dissecting the Beckhams while you’re taking a bath.
Tell us someone who currently doesn’t have a podcast but totally should. And why do you think their one would be amazing? Charlie Brooker. Because he is Charlie Brooker and generally everything he does is amazing.
Pitch us a new podcast idea in exactly 25 words What’s Your Algorithm Feeding You? Jenny Kleeman asks celebrities to show them what X and Instagram think they want. Are they brave enough to share?
All episodes of Intrigue: Ransom Man can be found on BBC Sounds; picture: Nina Raingold.
Folk tunes revamped into electronic reveries and a selection of mythladen covers comprise the second album from Isa Gordon. The result is a mesmerising and melancholic collection, says Fiona Shepherd
Ayrshire-born Isa Gordon has been immersed in Glasgow’s clubbing and electronica scene since moving to the city 14 years ago to study biomedical engineering. Creating her own music during lockdown, she was mentored by the late JD Twitch and released her debut album For You Only on his Optimo Music label in 2022. But electronica is only half the sonic story for Gordon. She grew up in Burns country and her roots are rmly in folk music, playing pipes and clarsach from a young age but mainly singing the standards. Her teenage listening also encompassed indie, emo, the glory of Bowie and even some classical music. All play a part in her musical mélange but she has mainly leaned into traditional song for 8Men, an eighttrack o ering which takes its title from a character in Flann O’Brien’s novel The Poor Mouth
Inspired by her father’s old folk mixtapes, the rst four pieces retool some of the traditional tunes she used to sing at folk sessions as hypnotic electronic reveries. They are complemented by four covers from the popular music canon, all written and performed by male artists who have in uenced Gordon, all tapping into similar perennial elements and themes, characterised by her as ‘mini myths of the human condition’.
Opening track ‘I Wish, I Wish’ is a heavily autotuned rendition of Lizzie Higgins’ ‘What A Voice, What A Voice’, a song which was dramatically sampled by Martyn Bennett
for his trailblazing Celtic club fusion track ‘Blackbird’. ‘Love Is Teasing’ (historically sometimes rendered as ‘Love Is Pleasing’) has been sung by the likes of Jean Ritchie and Shirley Collins. Those are big shoes to ll but Gordon’s vocals resonate with strength and melancholy, backed by mellow rock guitar and juddering synth drones. ‘Birken Tree’, a courting song thought to have been written by Paisley poet-weaver Robert Tannahill, is given a pagan techno spin, while ‘Young Edward’s more drastic patricide narrative is matched with dramatic drops and an epic electronic boost.
Her yearning, mesmeric rendition of Richard Thompson’s ‘Wheely Down’ (from his 1972 debut solo album) seems to belong in that timeless folk repertoire; Lou Reed’s ‘Street Hassle (Waltzing Matilda)’ less so. Instead, Gordon applies a minimal string arrangement by Harry Gorski-Brown and Sarah McWhinney to this urban tale of transactional sex. Robert Wyatt’s bewitching ‘Sea Song’ loses a little of its selkie mysticism in the retelling but retains an expansive aqueous atmosphere. Finally, Black Sabbath’s monumental ‘War Pigs’ is properly transformed by the gradual layering of disorientating synth arpeggios and fuzz guitar, while still sounding like a hopeless howl into the void.
8Men is released by Lost Map on Friday 20 March.
album of the month
PODCASTS
SLIM’S GUIDE TO LIFE (BBC
Sounds)
GAMES CAIRN
(The Game Bakers)
Cairn is the result of five years’ development by French indie studio The Game Bakers. Players take control of Aava, an experienced climber who sets out to scale the fictional Mount Kami, a perilous edifice that also serves as a graveyard for countless poor souls. The experience recalls recent environmental endurance challenges such as Death Stranding and Baby Steps, with a difficulty curve that can occasionally feel overwhelming.
Controlling Aava as she climbs requires the careful placement of each individual limb, ideally into a suitable crack or onto a narrow ledge. After a scant tutorial, this process can seem unintuitive but it gradually begins to make sense and, in time, movement becomes second nature. The game can even induce a zen-like calm as the sun sets and shadows stretch, at least until the survival elements intrude. Aava must periodically eat, drink, warm up, sleep, tape her fingers and repair the pitons that act as temporary safeguards while climbing.
The vertiginous landscape has been meticulously handcrafted by the game’s designers, offering multiple routes of varying difficulty, so that every player’s journey will be unique. Around its halfway point, the game sharply ramps up the challenge with a sheer cliff face that initially looks impossible to scale; mercifully, a rewind mechanic, available in the settings, can be used to mitigate endless frustration. Featuring striking cell-shaded visuals, an atmospheric soundtrack enriched by birdsong, waterfalls, rain and wind, and a superbly implemented control system, Cairn is an ascent well worth making. (Murray Robertson)
Out now on PC and PS5.
There’s a sense in which Slim is the missing link between The Real McCoy and Mo Gilligan, revered as the King Of Black British Comedy but only now getting the mainstream recognition of a Radio 4 standup showcase after a career spanning more than 30 years and a rich, eventful life. Promising stories he’s never told on stage, this six-part series is framed as him reminiscing for his six kids, some of whom you can hear on the recording. And he’s not lacking in material.
Recounted decade by decade, from his London childhood brought up by Jamaican parents to being taken home by the police after jumping on a bus at three years old to go and see his dad at work, the man born Danny Gray is wry about occasional scrapes and misadventures but also justifiably proud of his achievements. That he’s a warm, avuncular storyteller is little surprise given that he was an uncle at birth. Slim himself entered fatherhood at 17, with the 53-year-old now a seasoned grandad.
Having begun performing as a 15-year-old DJ, the most compelling tales relate to him getting into stand-up as a side hustle through meeting Curtis Walker and Ishmael Thomas pre-Real McCoy, establishing himself while still working as a London bus driver. Raised with his mother’s iron discipline and a spell as the carer for his artful, emotionally blackmailing father, Slim exudes a keen sense of injustice. Yet he’s quick to laugh at his own youthful naivety and rites of passage. Even in 2026, it’s still striking to hear a BBC Radio comic chuckle about his youthful addiction to ‘pussy’ and his scarcely euphemised marijuana use, hindsight and experience having afforded him a perceptive, critical distance. While the chronological format is a little strait-jacketing, the many instances of familial sentimentality and Slim’s elder-statesman-of-comedy status are well-earned with his easy, lyrical delivery and a roguish vitality that remains evergreen. (Jay Richardson)
Two episodes available on BBC Sounds; new episodes available every Wednesday.
BOOKS JENNI FAGAN
The Delusions (Hutchinson Heinemann) lllll
In life, Edi was a street-smart Edinburgh tattooist and single mum. Now, as the narrator of Jenni Fagan’s latest novel The Delusions, a scatological Scottish The Good Place with Orwellian overtones, she is an afterlife Admin, processing the newly dead and relieving them of the delusions they held in life. These Delusions are extracted in the form of an eel, some with teeth, then slapped into an airport-style tray to be scanned. It’s Alien set at airport security, with particularly sweary staff.
If you can’t face up to yourself, you are zapped (Edi enjoys this, especially for politicians, billionaires, sex pests: no Great Beyond for them). Fortyseven years dead, and Edi remains sarky, with a core humanity that’s slowly revealed. She died when her son was seven and looks for him in the Queues every day. In Fagan’s dystopian afterlife, there is no watching over loved ones from the clouds. No harps either, Edi quips: ‘Not even a shitting banjo.’ Fagan is not the first to depict the next world as bureaucracy, but she leavens it with trademark humour. Edi and pals Eustace and Batshiva are snorting-level funny.
Humans, and now animals, are arriving in the millions. It is a deluge, a mass extinction. When a blue whale floats into Processing, the symbolism is clear. Fagan breaks no new ground with Edi’s character: we have met iterations in previous novels. Nevertheless, it is an exciting, ambitious departure. The Scottish novelist has long demonstrated a gift for articulating slippery facets of humanity: spirituality, end-of-times angst. Now she is universe building. The narrative has loose threads and Edi can repeat like a nippy pal, five pints in. But overall, this is tender and philosophical, a meditation on living and dying; the responsibility we have for ourselves and the planet. The Delusions is a wild cosmic ride and, if you can hack the sweary narrator, it’s one well worth joining. (Ellie Carr)
n Published on Thursday 19 March.
ALBUMS SQUEEZE
Trixies (BMG) lllll
They arrived in 1978 with a literate spin on post-punk noise, fuelled by a soap-opera sense of drama, knockabout wit and an ear for top pop tunes. But who knew the Squeeze story did not start with their debut single ‘Take Me I’m Yours’? Four years earlier, in an act of fearless teenage ambition, Chris Difford (mainly words) and Glenn Tilbrook (mainly music) had set about writing a rock opera. In a dozen or so songs, they charted a seedy society of gamblers, drunks and good-time girls. Those songs were set in a Runyonesque nightclub called Trixies which, in real life, would have turned them away for being underage and, like an underworld secret, stayed hidden, never to be heard.
Now, to mark the band’s 50th anniversary, Difford and Tilbrook have returned to their formative efforts and discovered they were not bad at all. And all these years later, they have the musical expertise to do them justice. Trixies is much better than you would expect. True, you will find the odd dodgy line (‘The tables have been cleared/The strangers have been feared’) and you’ll learn little about gangland London, but no song passes without an instantly catchy chorus in a collection that is as lively as it is varied. Whether it’s the lounge-jazz balladry of ‘You Get The Feeling’, the Bowie-esque chord shifts of ‘The Place We Call Mars’ or the T Rex boogie of ‘The Jaguars’, Trixies is not just for members only. (Mark Fisher)
n Released on Friday 6 March.
Catch Up
Claire Sawers checks out some new TV offerings to get you through March, featuring top Storrie-telling, bonkers Irish capers, American ‘royalty’ and memories from Macca
Ashley Storrie’s rst TV show Dinosaur (BBC iPlayer) returns for season two, where the Glasgow writer and stand-up stars again as palaeontologist Nina. Work has taken her on a muddy eld expedition to the Isle Of Wight but she must decide between extending her dig there or returning to her old Kelvingrove Museum job. A potential love triangle is also developing between her doting, barista boyfriend Lee (Lorn Macdonald) and brash, amorous American colleague Clayton (Hyoie O’Grady). A lot of the show’s charm hinges on Nina’s relentless awkwardness, such as angsty speculation about her beau’s lack of texts or losing the plot when her favourite sandwich shop cruelly discontinues tuna melts. Storrie’s warm writing reminds us of the everyday rankles that autism can bring and a couple of sweet easter eggs are dropped in for her mum, Janey Godley, who died just before season one secured the public vote and screenwriter awards at the Scottish Ba as.
Over the North Channel, the creator of Derry Girls brings us a murder-mystery comedy caper with How To Get To Heaven From Belfast (Net ix). When the fourth member of a childhood girl gang dies mysteriously, her now middle-aged friends Saoirse, Robyn and Dara must investigate. Roísín Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan and Caoilfhionn Dunne are excellent as the perimenopausal sleuthers, temporarily ditching their responsibilities (including a gaslighting toddler, an unappealing marriage and a cantankerous mother) to cavort around Donegal, Belfast and Portugal. Saoirse’s career as a TV crime writer comes in handy, although an attractive young guard keeps distracting her while helping brainstorm the case. There are spit-outyour-Nambarrie funny moments, particularly whenever Keenan or Ardal O’Hanlon deliver a line: Lisa McGee’s writing plus their facial gymnastics equal comedy gold. The plot is a bampot mix of Scooby-Doo-style antics soundtracked by noughties bangers. Highly nuts, absurd lols.
Proli c producer Ryan Murphy presents his new anthology: Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette (Disney+). When one of the world’s most eligible bachelors began a whirlwind courtship with Calvin Klein’s chief publicist, the paparazzi went totally loco. Bessette was the US equivalent of Lady Di in fashion in uencer terms and although JFK Jr’s mother Jackie Onassis died before meeting her future daughterin-law, Bessette followed in her minimalist chic footsteps. The golden couple would die in a plane crash in 1999, another tragic incident continuing the Kennedy Curse. This glossy show has the two-pronged appeal of deep 90s nostalgia and Cinderella romance, with our Prince Charming doing his wooing on sailboats around Martha’s Vineyard or biking round Manhattan. John-John is well written as the handsome playboy seeking real connection outside Camelot; an impossible fantasy given his pro le and Bessette as his star-crossed, camera-shy lover.
Man On The Run (Prime Video) covers Paul McCartney’s life, roughly between John Lennon quitting the Beatles in 1969 and his former bandmate’s assassination in 1980. A brotherly love-hate friendship is a throughline for the documentary, where McCartney strives to nd his creative feet a er the Fab Four. Disappearing at rst to a remote farm on the Mull Of Kintyre, via world tours with Wings and a Japanese jail cell, Macca is seen as both family man and compulsive creator. He rejects the word workaholic at one point, saying work always feels like play. With quotes from his wife, daughters and showbiz pals including Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jagger and the Campbeltown Pipe Band, we see how this Liverpudlian navigated a few creative bum notes and legal headaches to keep pushing for both personal peace and musical greatness. Great archive footage (but there’s nowhere near enough about the glorious ‘Temporary Secretary’).
SAWERS ALSO SAW . . .
Cumhachd Hitler: Hitler’s Power on BBC iPlayer: ‘Chilling, timely Gaelic documentary’ Dr Strangelove on Now: ‘Kubrick stage adaptation with Steve Coogan’ Storyville: The Darkest Web on BBC iPlayer: ‘Worrying online paedophile investigation’
Fab four: Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette (and clockwise from below), Man On The Run, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast, Dinosaur
ALBUMS WALTER SMITH III
Twio Vol 2 (Blue Note)
The tenor saxophone, bass and drums configuration has an auspicious history in jazz. Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West and Joe Henderson’s The State Of The Tenor recordings instantly spring to mind as benchmarks. Walter Smith lll, who has established himself as one of the most authoritative tenorists of his generation, added to those revered albums with his Twio set in 2018 and he finds further inspiration in the format with its successor.
From a long and distinguished line of Texas tenors, the Houston-born Smith has chosen a largely familiar but not overplayed selection of jazz standards. These he explores with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Kendrick Scott, with the legendary Ron Carter replacing Sanders on five tracks and fellow saxophonist Branford Marsalis forming a twin-tenors frontline on two. The mood is generally playful, with Smith revelling in the freedom of this trio setting. ‘My Ideal’, probably best known as one of trumpeter Chet Baker’s vocal hits, is a lovely loose-limbed, rakish opener. ‘Circus’, from drummer Art Blakey’s early 1960s Jazz Messengers period, dances with gracefulness and potency, and Thelonious Monk’s ‘Light Blue’ artfully continues the sense of exploration within the tradition.
Carter’s bass solo on ‘Casual-Lee’ is masterly and his accompaniment to Smith’s beautiful interpretation of Ellington and Strayhorn’s ‘Isfahan’ has an assured invention. What comes across particularly in all ten tracks is a feeling of relaxed creativity. Marsalis and Smith have a ball as they join forces in harmony and trade choruses without any sense of trying to outdo one another. Indeed, on the closing ‘Swingin’ At The Haven’, written by Marsalis’ dad Ellis, the pair swing and improvise as a tag team, bringing a touch of joyful conspiracy over Carter and Scott’s spring-heeled rhythm section. (Rob Adams)
Released on Friday 6 March.
PODCASTS
SCANDAL
This four-parter from the British Scandal series opens with the claim that the Post Office Horizon disaster is the ‘biggest injustice this country has ever seen’. It might well be (faulty software caused hundreds of subpostmasters to be wrongly accused and in some cases even jailed for theft) and the podcast certainly leans into the horrifying human drama at the heart of this scandal. But the sensational nature of such a claim (how do you possibly weigh the impact of one liferuining injustice against another?) gives a clue to how this series treats its stories.
Hosts Alice Levine and Matt Forde have a well-oiled rapport, melding a narrative complete with broad-brushed characters and snappy dialogue, alongside banter-filled interjections on everything from trade unions to pizza toppings. The storytelling is clean and clear as it homes in on former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton, whose life unravels catastrophically. But these interjections make for an odd and uneasy mix, on the one hand popping the tension (which is frequently unbearable, as the tale becomes discomfiting, enraging and chilling) and on the other feeling flippant in the face of such terrible events. Still, this podcast gets under the skin of the appalling stress that victims were placed under and depicts well the bullying menace of an institution who refused to admit its computer system could be wrong. It’s a terrifying testament to the control and authority placed in machines which, as the UK government breezily embraces AI, is surely something worth pausing over. (Lucy Ribchester)
All episodes available now.
OTHER THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR
A packed month of things to do indoors or consume on your travels include a debut children’s book by the Travis bass player, a very soothing ornithological podcast and an all-star television drama about three friends’ lives going topsy turvy
ALBUMS TRAITRS
The Cure are an obvious touchstone for this Toronto coldwave duo with their first album back after a four-year hiatus. I Was Ill, You Were Wrong confronts mortality and self-destruction headon and the record is resplendent in raw synth, brooding guitars and an overall cinematic sweep.
n Freakwave, Friday 13 March.
RY-GUY
This south London guy operates around the busy zone where soul, psychedelia and art-pop intersect. Like A River is his latest, a collection influenced by his West Indian/Caribbean roots.
n Self-released, Friday 27 March.
BOOKS
IMOGEN WADE
Girl, Swooning is the debut collection from the 2023 winner of the National Poetry Prize, featuring verse about womanhood, love, death and religious experience.
n Little, Brown, Thursday 5 March.
DOUGIE PAYNE
This Oban-based publisher puts out the Travis bass player’s debut children’s book. Poochie Pete And His Very Big Feet tells the tale of a scruffy dog who has no friends but finds solace in a music shop. Alongside Payne’s words are illustrations by Rachel Seago.
n Little Door Books, Thursday 5 March.
ANDREW COCKBURN
Washington Is Burning reveals the inner workings of Trump’s administration, dubbed here as ‘a grotesque carnival of corruption’. Cockburn highlights spectacular greed at the heart of America’s political system in gory detail.
n Verso, Tuesday 17 March.
GAMES
CRIMSON DESERT
Set in the open-world fictional continent of Pywel, players control hairy dude Kliff, a member of the Greymanes, as he navigates a land populated by rival factions and mythical creatures.
n Pearl Abyss, Thursday 19 March.
PODCASTS GET BIRDING WITH SEAN BEAN
The soothing Yorkshire tones of Mr Bean will undoubtedly accompany some pod twitchery very nicely. Among his guests across the series will be Hamza Yassin, Dr Mya-Rose Craig (aka Birdgirl) and Guy ‘Elbow’ Garvey.
n Peanut & Crumb, new episodes fortnightly.
TV
IMPERFECT WOMEN
In this eight-part thriller, Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara star as three old pals whose lives are turned upside down after a murder. As the investigation gets into gear, the truth about all their relationships unravels.
n Apple TV, Wednesday 18 March.
DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN
Charlie Cox returns for a second season of the Daredevil continuation series which also stars Krysten Ritter as Jesssica Jones and Jon Bernthal as Punisher.
n Disney+, Wednesday 25 March.
Crimson Desert (and bottom from left), Dougie Payne, Daredevil: Born Again, Traitrs
back
THE Q& A WITH SUE PERKINS
Stand-up, broadcaster, author, Mel Giedroyc’s former comedy partner and ‘Croydon’s seventh-funniest brunette’ (her own words from way back), Sue Perkins returns to the live stage with her Eternal Shame. Here, she confronts our brutal Q&A to tell us about beta blockers, badges and Bee Gees
Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Craig Reid from The Proclaimers.
Who do you think the casting people would choose? Charlie Reid from The Proclaimers. In truth, I’d be delighted with either.
What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? One’s a marsupial, the other’s a Geordie trapped in a lift.
If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? My dog. Never has a creature been doted on more devotedly. She has an orthopaedic mattress. I don’t.
If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get out? Tina Fey and the person who designed the room. Then we could walk our way out in no time and I could spend the afternoon telling Tina how cool she is.
When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the circumstances? Yesterday. Someone called me Mel. Standard. And always flattering.
What’s the best cover version ever? ‘Respect’. Aretha nailed it.
Whose speaking voice soothes your ears? My friend Nicola. The wisest of all the owls.
Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? Beta blockers.
If you were a ghost, who would you haunt? Every paranormal society I could find. Just to cheer them up.
If you could relive any day of your life, which one would it be? Pick one at random. There’s something wonderful, albeit often tiny, in every day that’s worth celebrating.
What’s your earliest recollection of winning something? I’m very good at coming second, so most of my memories revolve around being an also-ran. The first victory I remember is getting a Puffin Club badge through the post for being a voracious reader. It felt special. Until I realised that everyone under the age of ten got one.
Did you have a nickname at school that you were ok with? And can you tell us a nickname you hated? No one ever calls me by my actual name. Perks is standard. Perky. Perkalerk. Pookis. Piggy. Porkis. Any nickname is fine by me. But call me Susan and I will immediately panic, like I’ve done something wrong and the nuns are coming for me.
If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, who would it be in tribute to and what would it be called? I would form a band comprised entirely of dairy farmers who sing in a falsetto register. I’d call them the Brie Gees.
What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public or private? Most, tbh. I am drawn to dance like an aged moth to a flame. But ‘You Make Me Feel’ by Sylvester holds a firm place in my heart.
Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Isabella Bird, the Victorian explorer and total legend. I figure she’d be able to do all the ‘putting up the tent and working out the route’ kind of stuff. I’d just cook and sing songs by the campfire.
Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people? I’m super into Japanese silk embroidery and UFC. Often at the same time. One is a perfect counterweight to the other.
When did you last cry? Today, listening to Dervla Kirwan reading Florence Knapp’s brilliant book, The Names
What’s the most hi-tech item in your home? I have an iPad. Does that count?
The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Music Hall, Aberdeen, Wednesday 18 March; Perth Concert Hall, Thursday 19 March; Eden Court, Inverness, Friday 20 March; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Saturday 21 March, as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sunday 22 March; picture: Steve Ullathorne.
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‘Can we have one case that doesn’t spiral out of control?’ Nope would be the answer to that question posed by Vegas lawyer Lincoln Gumb (voiced by Adam Scott) in unruly animated Netflix series Strip Law. Naturally, in order to get matters on an even legal keel, he joins forces with Sheila Flambé (Janelle James), a local magician.
To mark the centenary of her birth, Glasgow Film Festival lays on a feast of Marilyn Monroe movies, the most joyous of which is Some Like It Hot (4 March). This gloriously daft comedy, in which Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play two chaps who join an all-female jazz band to escape the mob, is famed for its iconic last line.
We’ve also avoided tough-nut males in our Glasgow International Comedy Festival coverage this issue, but as a gentle nod to all the fellas out there, we’ve picked out John Tothill (20 March) as one to watch. He brings us This Must Be Heaven, his Fringe 2025 hit which left us hailing him as ‘a unique proposition’. ´
