Paloma Faith brings music and magic to Edinburgh
The third Edinburgh programme opened with show introducer Hayley remembering an indoor-skydiving session beside Daniel Craig while he trained for Quantum of Solace. Her father had to point out that she was sitting next to James Bond, and even then she did not recognise him until she watched the film afterwards. Back in Radio 1’s temporary red-curtained studio, Chris returned from another free Fringe show while Scott and Beccy prepared for Paloma Faith’s live appearance and Dan and Phil’s first attempt at Innuendo Bingo.
Scott looked back at the previous night’s cabaret, where Example had presided over Frisky & Mannish, EastEnd Cabaret, Piff the Magic Dragon and the listener act Nora and Peter. Beccy had borrowed EastEnd Cabaret’s half-male, half-female make-up for the night out, while the performing dog Mr Piffles had declined to shake Example’s hand. Frisky & Mannish’s Tinie Tempah-style version of Gotye also reopened the old joke that some listeners had once believed Tinie had recorded the song first.
Dan and Phil attracted a crowd before they had even entered the studio, with two fans admitting they had come to the BBC site solely to see them. Their Innuendo Bingo debut gained slow-motion action replays for the online audience and produced particularly strong reactions to Phil Spencer “nursing a semi”, tennis commentary about hard balls and The Cube measuring the gap between the balls and the hole. Both finished soaked, but told Scott they would play again after a few months to recover.
Chris reviewed psychologist and former magician Richard Wiseman’s free show Psychobabble. After being told the performance was full, he had a friend distract the person at the door so he could slip inside, where Wiseman revealed magic methods and taught the audience how to turn a tea towel into a chicken. Chris worried that the psychologist might have influenced him into donating too much money, but still awarded the show three and a half “stocks”.
Paloma Faith performed live in the pink tent before becoming the evening’s guest host. She promised a specially reworked song, several costume changes and a return to the magician’s-assistant work she had done before her music career. The night’s line-up also included Rhys Darby, Up & Over It, Abandoman and a collaboration between beatboxer Shlomo and Police Academy sound-effects performer Michael Winslow, while another listener act appeared from home by webcam.
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