Soliana the contortionist performed from one of the nine shows out of 160 that will be presented this year at Underbelly, one of the Big Four venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Her act is part of “Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett,” and if my back ached just watching her, hers was not the most twisted of the presentation. Some wags might nominate the overlong speech of self-congratulations by the founders of Underbelly on reaching its 25th anniversary, or the literal-minded might choose the latest show by the group Black Blues Brothers, entitled “Let’s Twist Again.” But the consensus would surely be “Garry Starr: Classic Penguins,” the aim of which, we were told, was to “perform” every Penguin Classic novel ever written (sample: For “The Wind in the Willows” Kenneth Grahame, he farted through a shrub.) For some reason, he performed this in the nude. He was not completely naked: He was wearing a top hat and top coat, an Elizabethan ruff, and footwear designed to resemble a penguin’s, but nothing covered his penis, which he used in particular to perform a certain Penguin Classic written by Herman Melville.
Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come
Black Blues Brothers: Lets Twist Again
Pop Off, Michelangelo
