ED2016 5/5 Reviews ED2016 Theatre Reviews

My Name Is Gideon: Songs, Space Travel And Everything In-Between (All For One)

By Andy Leask | Published on Friday 12 August 2016

The blurb describes this show, and performer Gideon Irving, as “unique and unclassifiable”, and you know what? That’s pretty much spot on. There’s an intimacy to the performance, no doubt honed in hundreds of living-room performances, and it was impossible to resist the pull of Irving’s charisma. The show itself is often funny, sometimes moving, and constantly punctuated by songs that are incredibly sophisticated, both musically and lyrically. The range of instruments played, like the range of emotions they elicit, is wide and varied: banjo, bouzouki, an African instrument called an mbira (yes, I had to look that up…). At one time, even the audience was his instrument, and he made a masterpiece out of us. Unclassifiable? Yes. Unmissable? Undoubtedly.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 29 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Andy Leask]