Latest news with #TheOddCouple
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
My Festival: Alan Davies
Alan Davies: Think Ahead | Tony Briggs The seasoned stand-up and Q.I. star opens up about his worst ever review, the anxiety of being stuck watching a terrible show, and his extracurricular Fringe activities. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There are thousands of shows in Edinburgh this month. Please tell us why we should come and see yours. Years ago, at the Edmonton Fringe in Canada, there was sketch group called Free Food and Beer. All their posters appeared to promise free food and beer. They sold a lot of tickets. I can offer a guaranteed seat for each ticket holder and - limited - air to breathe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What will we learn from your show that we didn't know before? That, unlike most comedians, who are famously outward looking, I'm entirely self-absorbed. Who or what was the biggest inspiration for your show? That I spend more time in the pharmacy than the gym. What's the best review you've ever had, and the worst? I gave a less than confident performance in a production of The Odd Couple many years ago and resolved not to read any notices, expecting them to be unkind. Walking down the steps outside the venue - with Dave Johns who was also in the cast - we passed the audience lining up for the next show. When they saw me people started to call things out. 'We liked it, Alan.' 'Yeah, don't listen to them, Alan.' 'We thought it was good!' This all culminated in a large number of them breaking out into a sympathetic round of applause. As I waved and smiled meekly I said, without turning to Dave, 'How bad are these reviews?' 'Don't worry about it, man,' he said. Who or what are you most excited about seeing this year? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Every year I find someone I've never seen before that I love. A couple of years ago it was Lucy McCormick, in the past it was Kiki & Herb. Last year I enjoyed Will Owen. The only certainty in my Fringe is that I will seek out John Hegley. Who do you most like spending time with in Edinburgh? These days it's a family affair. Katie and I are always on the lookout for kids' shows, though now two of ours are teenagers so the must-see list changes each year. Tell us something about you that would surprise people. On a Saturday afternoon I will seek out Hibs or Hearts, but I won't be drawn on a preference. What are the best and worst things that have happened to you at a festival? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The second worst thing that can happen is being stuck in a terrible show and not being able to get out. The worst thing is knowing someone in the show and having an arrangement to meet them afterwards. The best thing is approaching your venue and seeing the words 'sold out' next to your name. Thanks for the interview! We'd like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking? I met a Glaswegian recently who was bemoaning the fact that in his city you're not allowed to drink in the street, so perhaps we should take advantage of the rules in Edinburgh and sup something while watching some world-class street performers. As for what it is, surprise me, that would be in the spirit of the Fringe.
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
Lorne Gunter: Smith lays groundwork for success at premier's council
Article content What did Premier Danielle Smith achieve at the Council of the Federation in cottage country north of Toronto? A lot of significant groundwork for an expansion of the province's economy, perhaps even with the province in control, not Ottawa. Article content Smith didn't get invited to the famous late-night gab session between Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney, where the two sat up until all hours 'solving all the world's problems.' Article content Article content Article content While Ford and Carney launched their summer-stock revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple at the Ford Family Muskoka Playhouse (with Carney as Felix and Ford as Oscar), Smith added another premier to her effort to get pipelines and ports built and increase trade within Canada. Article content Saskatchewan's Scott Moe signed on to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that both Smith and Ford signed earlier this month when Ford came west to flip pancakes at the Calgary Stampede. Article content Admittedly, Moe is as pro-oil and pipeline, and Ottawa-skeptic, as Smith. Getting him to sign couldn't have been hard. Indeed, an Alberta government source tells me Moe was willing to sign the same day as Ford. After all, he was in Calgary, too, flapping jacks along side his Alberta and Ontario counterparts at Smith's annual Stampede breakfast. But someone in our premier's office came up the astute idea of having Moe hold off a couple of weeks, so when he did sign it would look as the MOU was gaining momentum. Article content Article content The same source tells me Smith is now working on Manitoba's Wab Kinew for even more momentum and a solid block of support from the B.C.-Alberta border to the Ontario-Quebec line. Article content The thinking is that if B.C. never removes its objections to a West Coast pipeline and Quebec can't be convinced to support a pipeline across that province to East Coast refineries and ports, then maybe the central provinces can agree to a line from the Alberta and Saskatchewan oilfields to either Manitoba's Port of Churchill or Ontario's Moosonee or Fort Severn. Neither Ontario site at present has port facilities nor a rail line. Churchill has both. Article content Frankly, I prefer when the premier of Ontario and the PM are suspicious of one another. It makes me feel Alberta is safer. When Ford and Carney get chummy, I start to wonder whether Alberta should hunker down and wait for a storm.
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Federal Reserve chief schools Trump in excruciating live fact-check
The figures are eye-watering. What started as a $US1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) project in 2023 has blown out to about $US2.5 billion – although, in percentage terms, that's nowhere near as bad as our very own beleaguered North Sydney Olympic Pool. The expensive reno involves two grand Washington buildings, constructed in the 1930s, and is scheduled for completion in 2027. By then, Powell will no longer be the Fed chair – his term finishes in May. Taking their tour, Trump and Powell stood beside each other in matching white hard hats, in what looked like a deleted scene from The Odd Couple. 'It looks like it's about $US3.1 billion. It went up a little bit. Or a lot,' Trump said of the renovation cost. Powell, who had been staring grimly at the floor, turned to the president and began shaking his head. 'I'm not aware of that,' the banker said. 'It just came out,' Trump replied. Powell added: 'I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed.' Turns out the figure 'just came out' of Trump's jacket pocket, from which the president withdrew a document that Powell then inspected, quizzically, after donning his glasses. It took him just a few seconds to realise the ruse – Trump was trying to conflate two separate projects. Loading 'Oh, you're including the Martin renovation,' Powell said, referring to the refurbishment of another building, which was completed in 2021. 'You just added in a third building, is what that is.' 'It's a building that's being built,' Trump said. 'No, it was built five years ago,' Powell corrected. 'We finished Martin five years ago … it's not new.' Unfazed, Trump turned it over to questions. Asked by a reporter what he, as a real estate developer, would do with a project manager who presided over such budget blowouts, Trump adopted his trademark phrase (and tone) from his days on reality TV show The Apprentice. 'I'd fire 'em,' he said. Asked whether there was anything Powell could say to him that would cause him to back off from his personal attacks, Trump said: 'I'd love him to lower interest rates', and then slapped the bank chairman on the back. And, in an audacious display from someone who has spent weeks calling him every name in the book, Trump batted away suggestions that he might try to fire Powell. 'I don't want to be personal,' he said.
The Age
7 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Federal Reserve chief schools Trump in excruciating live fact-check
The figures are eye-watering. What started as a $US1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) project in 2023 has blown out to about $US2.5 billion – although, in percentage terms, that's nowhere near as bad as our very own beleaguered North Sydney Olympic Pool. The expensive reno involves two grand Washington buildings, constructed in the 1930s, and is scheduled for completion in 2027. By then, Powell will no longer be the Fed chair – his term finishes in May. Taking their tour, Trump and Powell stood beside each other in matching white hard hats, in what looked like a deleted scene from The Odd Couple. 'It looks like it's about $US3.1 billion. It went up a little bit. Or a lot,' Trump said of the renovation cost. Powell, who had been staring grimly at the floor, turned to the president and began shaking his head. 'I'm not aware of that,' the banker said. 'It just came out,' Trump replied. Powell added: 'I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed.' Turns out the figure 'just came out' of Trump's jacket pocket, from which the president withdrew a document that Powell then inspected, quizzically, after donning his glasses. It took him just a few seconds to realise the ruse – Trump was trying to conflate two separate projects. Loading 'Oh, you're including the Martin renovation,' Powell said, referring to the refurbishment of another building, which was completed in 2021. 'You just added in a third building, is what that is.' 'It's a building that's being built,' Trump said. 'No, it was built five years ago,' Powell corrected. 'We finished Martin five years ago … it's not new.' Unfazed, Trump turned it over to questions. Asked by a reporter what he, as a real estate developer, would do with a project manager who presided over such budget blowouts, Trump adopted his trademark phrase (and tone) from his days on reality TV show The Apprentice. 'I'd fire 'em,' he said. Asked whether there was anything Powell could say to him that would cause him to back off from his personal attacks, Trump said: 'I'd love him to lower interest rates', and then slapped the bank chairman on the back. And, in an audacious display from someone who has spent weeks calling him every name in the book, Trump batted away suggestions that he might try to fire Powell. 'I don't want to be personal,' he said.
Edmonton Journal
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Review: A brilliant pair of performances shine in Teatro's The Odd Couple
One's messy while the other is tidy. One's bad with money, while the other has a keen eye for budgeting. One is loud and outspoken while the other is neurotic and demure. They are The Odd Couple. Article content It's both the final Teatro Live! production of the year, and the smash Broadway hit turned 1968 Hollywood classic starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Thankfully, the new show navigates around the dated jokes, steers clear of cliches and comes through with a fresh and hilarious look at the lives of a pair of divorcees. Article content Article content The setting is New York in 1965, a time when a pair of grown men living together would have been seen as odd. Oscar, living on his own while his ex-wife has decamped to California with their children, hosts the Friday night poker game in his empty eight-bedroom apartment. Article content Article content Felix is late, uncharacteristic for their normally punctual and uptight friend. It turns out he has separated from his wife of 12 years, and after consoling him and calming him down, Oscar agrees to give him a place to stay. Article content It doesn't take long for the friction between the neat and tidy Felix to grate against the carefree and slovenly Oscar. Felix is constantly cleaning, picking up, tidying and generally making a nuisance of himself. Oscar doesn't care about the little details, about bills, about alimony payments to his wife, about how dinner is made. 'Spoon? You ignoramus, it's a ladle!' Felix shouts at him after a disagreement about dinner and cooking utensils. Article content Article content Alexander Ariate has incredible stage presence as Felix Unger, a thousand-watt smile lighting up the stage when he's happy and his frustration bursting out when things go south. He takes on a slight accent for the role, mild enough that it remains charming throughout. Think Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise. Article content Article content Andrew MacDonald-Smith plays his opposite, the ever tidy and uptight Felix Unger. He puts on a veritable clinic of slapstick comedy, nailing comedic timings and able to pull a laugh with just an expression. Article content The entire cast is great, from Kristin Johnston and Jenny McKillop as the sultry Pigeon sisters to the great group of supporting poker buddies of Mat Busby, Oscar Derkx, Bernardo Pacheco and Garrett Ross. But Ariate and MacDonald-Smith have done such an incredible job with their roles that they challenge even the greats of Lemmon and Matthau. I'd love to see this pair remake Grumpy Old Men.
