Gilded Balloon

Aunty Donna
Gilded Balloon (Venue 14)
Aug 12 – 25
22:00
£10
I took some time out to meet the Melbourne, Australian trio, Aunty Donna to find out what they had in store for this years debut at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. These friendly ‘awesome’ guys met three years ago while at Acting School and soon came to realise they were actually quite funny! The curiously named ‘Aunty Donna’ was coined after they found out they all had an aunty named Donna. Fresh from San Francisco ‘Sketch Fest’, they now embark to conquer the Fringe.
When asked to describe their show in three words they claimed it is ‘Fast Paced Mayhem’.
In their opening sketch Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane and Mark Samual Bonanno take to the stage, landing us in a hipster coffee bar, their witty scrutiny is taken to ludicrous limits as they act out the scene in outrageous physical comedy. Oozing with energy, the fast paced trio speed us through original, slightly surreal, big and brash comedy all executed in suit and tie. Each working in balance with one another: complimenting their different strengths. We are taken on a singing and dancing journey of men who flight like kangaroos, a widowed husband who deals with grief through puns, loose rope walking, beat drops at a funeral and fatherly love that goes all wrong. Of course a comic show visiting Edinburgh would not be the same without the obligatory Scottish accent gag.
It’s noisy, it’s daft, it’s filthy, but in all the right places. Just beware of the great audience interaction. I do hope you like popcorn. Their show goes a bit off kilter at the end when they perform a parody of a TV show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which isn’t actually aired in the UK, which seems a bit irrelevant but you still get the joke.
Four stars.

First of all, excellent name. Not a clue where it comes from, but it is wonderful.
This is a solid place to see a show. I was here for the Fringe and saw a few things throughout the weekend here. All of them comfortable, great sound, lots of fun. The only issue it really has against it is it’s a maze. Trying to get anywhere in here is a journey. They do their best at labelling and putting up signs, but I think I still had to ask someone each time I wanted to get anywhere.
But it’s a slight price to say for an excellent show venue. Got a chance to see something here? See it.

It’s a tough call to not give this event a 5 star rating…
Axis of Awesome totally rocked the Gilded Balloon, with songs of modern living and social commentary; songs about KFC and teenage drinking, Harry Potter and writing floppy guys off as a tax deductable item.
Reviewing an Axis of Awesome concert has an element of «situational humour» (you had to be there), and the musical stylings go beyond the obvious comparisons of Flight of the Conchords or Tim Minchin — each are doing their own individual homage to musical parody with totally different styles.
But the sheer… intelligent idiocy? of Axis of Awesome achieves some real belly laughs, sprinkled with a little well-​timed cringing.
It’s hard to pick favourites but the KFC song, the pimped-​out parody of «Can you hear the $%^&* music comin outta my car» and the medley of the four-​chord song had me in stitches.
Well worth the ticket price while Axis of Awesome are at the Gilded Balloon, or finding out if they’re coming to a theatre near you.