The first ever Malcolm Hardee Week starts at the Edinburgh Fringe today to celebrate ‘the godfather of alternative comedy’ and features two comedy debates, two spaghetti-juggling contests and a two-hour variety show.
There are five days of events to celebrate the comic, agent, manager, club-owner and anarchic prankster, who passed away in 2005 and has been described as “the greatest influence on British comedy over the last 25 years”.
Organiser John Fleming said: “It is a win-win situation for me. If everything goes smoothly, I will be rightly lauded for my slick, professional efficiency. If it all falls apart into an anarchic shambles, I will be hailed as a comedy genius for keeping alive the true spirit of the late, great Malcolm Hardee.
“Frankly, of the two, I would prefer the second option.”
He added: “Organising anything Malcolm-related is like juggling spaghetti - which will prove interesting when, on Wednesday and Thursday, we actually literally WILL be juggling spaghetti.”
Events include:
- Monday 22nd: The Malcolm Hardee Comedy Punch-Up Debate No 1 (6.15pm-7.00pm at The Hive). The proposition: "Comedians are psychopathic masochists with a death wish”. The panel features Kate Copstick, Janey Godley, Paul Provenza and Bob Slayer.
- Tuesday 23rd: The Malcolm Hardee Comedy Punch-Up Debate No 2 (6.15pm-7.00pm at The Hive). The proposition: “Racist or sexist jokes? It doesn’t matter if they’re funny!” The panel features Simon Donald, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Ian Pattison and Maureen Younger.
- Wednesday 24th & Thursday 25th: The Malcolm Hardee Spaghetti-Juggling Contest - Year One(6.15pm-7.00pm outside The Beehive in Grassmarket). The Fringe’s first annual spaghetti juggling contest organised by an ex-Tiswas researcher.
- Friday 26th: The Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards Show. (10.00pm-midnight at The Counting House). Full line-up of acts to be announced next week, but it will be compered by Miss Behave, open with cult comic Charlie Chuck from The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer and will climax with Puppetry of the Penis...
The comedy awards give out three awards: The Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality, The Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award (for best publicity stunt promoting a show or act at the Edinburgh Fringe) and The Malcolm Hardee ‘Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid’ Award. (See video above of Bo Burnham winning last year's award.)
For latest news and latest details on participants at Malcolm Hardee Week visit malcolmhardee.co.uk. Meanwhile Fleming will be writing a daily blog at blog.thejohnfleming.com to keep people up to date on “whatever may be going wrong”...
