Best of Scottish Comedy @ Dunedin Fringe

MEDIA RELEASE: BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY, DUNEDIN FRINGE 2017

SCOTS COMICS HEADING DOWN UNDER
Award-Winning Funnymen Return to Dunedin

One-Hundred and seventy years after the first intrepid Scottish seafarers found land in Otago, two globetrotting Scots comedy adventurers Vladimir McTavish and Bruce Fummey return to the Dunedin Fringe for a third successive year. This follows their sell-out success last year and in 2015.

Given the city’s Caledonian heritage, it is little surprise that both these men feel at home in this jewell of the South Island.. In fact, Edinburgh-based McTavish feels particularly connected to the city which boasts a statue of Rabbie Burns overlooking The Octagon. “It’s a strange feeling”, he says “to fly to the other side of the Globe and to walk along streets that have exactly the same names as they do back at home.”

Prior to their Dunedin run, this pair of jokesters were performing at Fringe World in Perth, WA. Co-incidentally, Fummey resides in Perth, Scotland. If you thought these guys merely travel the world to find links to home, then think again. Between them, they have performed at festivals and comedy events in New York City, Aspen, Dubai, Adelaide, Copenhagen, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

So what can New Zealand audiences expect to see in the show. According to McTavish, if you come along expecting to hear jokes about heather and haggis, wrapped up in dewy-eyed tartan nostalgia, you will be in for a disappointment. “Sure”, he says “there will be the usual Scottish cultural references and we will be talking about life back home, but we both like to think of what we do as being world-view comedy with a Scottish perspective. What we don’t do is paint a picture of the homeland that you find on a shortbread tin”.

In other words, expect plenty of jokes about Donald Trump and Brexit, as well as the odd wink towards Robert Burns, independence and Scottish country dancing.

Best Of Scottish Comedy was nominated for the Fringe World comedy award in Perth in 2015. In the same year, McTavish won the Scottish Comedy Award while in 2014 Fummey was voted Scottish Comedian Of The Year. McTavish’s first major TV series on the BBC, Live Floor Show, was nominated for a BAFTA and also launched the television career of Frankie Boyle, with whom he has since collaborated on a number of projects including the Channel 4 series Tramadol Nights.

McTavish and Fummey will be performing at Best Of Scottish Comedy from Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th March at 10pm at The Fortune Theatre. Audiences who would like a sneak preview of the show can catch them both at the Fringe Gala night on Wednesday 8th March at The Regent.

Ends
Best Of Scottish Comedy
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin
Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th March 2017 at 10pm
www.dunedinfringe.nz
www.fortunetheatre.co.nz

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