went to the only fringe show that matters yesterday: A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking an a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves
the energy from the audience in the room was like nothing i've ever experienced before. there were easily over a hundred people crammed into this basement venue. we arrived nearly an hour early and the queue to get in was already stretching out onto the street
the title wasn't a lie; a young man dressed as a gorilla dressed as an old man really just sat rocking in a rocking chair for fifty-six minutes. occasionally he'd yawn or scratch his head. a couple times he tapped his pipe. the audience responded to the most minimal movement with raptorous applause, often standing ovations. a moment later, everyone would hush each other into silence with seemingly no prompting. throughout it all, the gorilla rocked in his rocking chair.
not one, not two, not three, but FOUR people independently brought a banana to the show and presented it on stage to the gorilla, which garnered room-shaking applause each time. one person in the crowd intermittently blowed bubbles, which was well received. at one point a man went and took the gorilla's glasses off, which was violently booed. he tried replacing them with sunglasses, which was still booed. he then put the regular glasses back on top of the sunglasses, which finally gained the audience's cheers. he remained like that for the rest of the show
this is from a review of last year's show (they do it for one night per year) but this was exactly how it was this year too. if you ever come to edinburgh for the fringe festival there is not a single show i'd recommend more
