[FRINGE] all good things must come to an end ... and it's better with friends

The final Fringe night was spent at the Garden seeing The Axis of Awesome ... And Friends perform a loose mixed cabaret show along with a couple of guest acts. In this case the guests were Smart Casual and Dave Callum. As such, it was something along the lines of the old midnight shows in the Garden, which often showcased a miscellaneous grab-bag of impromptu performances at one of the venues in the Garden (often effectively selected by the artists themselves). Something that definitely allowed you to see some excellent quality acts very cheaply. This was slightly more structured, with the Axis of Awesome playing the role of host. They played some of the favourite songs (yes, including my personal nemesis of Bird-Plane) and Jordan did some belly-dancing with Boy Band. They did an excellent job hosting the show, which included a competition between the Sticky Midgets (aka the left side of the house), and the Fire-Breathing Chickens (aka the right side of the house). Which left me with some indecision as I was sitting right in the middle (but decided to go with Sticky Midgets because that was the side my friends were on). After some songs, the Axis had a rhyming song competition (which was won by Lee on behalf of the Sticky Midgets). Smart & Casual did a reasonable stand-up musical set, including Kaboom (with SFX of an exploding balloon) and Snap, but the highlight was when they were asked to perform a Silent Karaoke number as part of the competition, where Ben (aka Roger David) took the prize by singing Wuthering Heights in a high falsetto, to much enthusiastic audience applause. Dave Callum did an amazing stand-up set, finishing off with a magnificent dance number of If You Like It Put A Ring On It, accompanied by the rather attractive and very athletic Saturn Dancers. [I had wondered why they were hanging around near the venue before the show, having recognised them but not actually recognising where I recognised them from, if that makes sense. Fortunately all was revealed once they took their clothes off. Well, not all, as it wasn't that kind of show. But enough to be quite ... fun.] After some more songs the final round of the competition was decided by a game of Ultimate Scissors, Paper and ROCK! Unfortunately the Fire-Breathing Chickens were let down by their third-rate Dumbledore clone* who attempted a much too complicated figure on his second attempt, after winning a bout with the Moon In Its Wisdom, and crashed and burned. Oh well. But it's probably Jordan's fault for picking on someone, who, despite being in the exact centre of the room, was actually supporting the other side. All in all a most excellent way to finish off the Fringe. * When later asked by dalmeny if there was a Fringe show where he wasn't picked out of a crowd to do something, the third-rate Dumbledore lamented that generally it was the only the shows were the performers knew him that didn't pick him. That is, unless they needed someone "safe" to do something with. And that his distaste for a lot of the more questionable burlesque shows probably came from having far too many breasts rubbed in his face as a result of this aspect of his character/appearance. Something he never would have considered to have been a problem when he was a mere beardless teenager first attending Hogwarts.