To my mind, there are two kinds of Fringe: there is ‘mainstream Fringe’, established and semi-established acts performing in established venues, and then there is ‘fringe Fringe’, as epitomised by festivals such as the Stratford-Upon-Avon Fringe, which features absolute unknowns sitting in the back of darkened pubs whilst reeling off their fresh new material. Now, I realise that I’m starting to sound like the most awful, preachy hipster, so I’ll remove my glasses and hand-made pashmina and we’ll say no more on the matter. Suffice to say that there are some acts that are more ‘under the radar’ than others, acts that come to the ‘mainstream Fringe’ to perform as part of the ‘fringe Fringe’ tradition. Aberdeen University Comedy Society’s ‘Let’s Abduct Mother Theresa’ is such a show, to be found nowhere but the High Street, where they jostle with hundreds of leaflet handlers in an attempt to drum up an audience. They are not to be found within the pages of the Fringe’s official guide; but, were one to stumble into Ryan’s Bar on Hope Street at an opportune moment, one would be charmed, entranced and amused by a troupe of manic entertainers as they set out on a [...]
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