Gary Le Strange - Polaroid Suitcases
Smirnoff Underbelly , Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: It's Alright For Some

Andrew Chippindale

To appreciate this show fully I suspect one would have to own at least ten seminal albums dating from 1979 to 1984. To my eternal shame, I do (ridicule is nothing to be scared of). This isn't to say that if you don't own everything from Replicants to Rio you should stay away from this hour of perfectly observed character comedy.

Gary Le Strange isn't a New Romantic anyway. He is, he tells us, a Neo Regency Face Warrior and he is here to perform songs from his new album, Polaroid Suitcase, as well as dip into his back catalogue ('Individuals', 'Is My Toaster Sentient?' and the massive 'Grey'). He also tells us about the dark days of his punk period (shades of Siouxsie and The Banshees), his drug problem, his brush with death and his discovery of the Neo Regency movement. He shares with us his influences and personal philosophy in some of the most exhaustively complete satire that it is possible to imagine.

Whether one goes to relive the ill-advised days of one's youth, or simply to marvel at one of the most original comic creations on the fringe, there is enough in this show to keep laughing through the show and for a good while afterwards. The only thing that worries me is that kids today might think he's making it up.

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