Forget blockbuster movies and online troll wars – the real sign that nerd culture has arrived will be when it’s accepted as a chin-stroking evening out for the smirking classes. It’s certainly making headway at the Edinburgh Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival.
The 2018 programme has everything from comedies starring action figures to drama written by artificial intelligence, plus an almost dangerous amount of Doctor Who. We’ve collected the best shows for a nerdy day out, so you can find out where cult meets culture at this year's festival.
A Joke
Doctor doctor, do you ever feel like people are laughing at you? In A Joke, Sylvester McCoy (the Doctor from Doctor Who), Robert Picardo (the doctor from Star Trek: Voyager), and co-star John Bett, play an Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman. They’re lost on a blank stage, in search of a punchline. McCoy and Picardo are given ample room to show off their comedic skills, rattling off jokes with the same vim they once brought to technobabble. Dan Freeman’s script nods at Waiting for Godot, and winks at the genre fans that will inevitably be in the audience with a few choice in-jokes. It’s like if Beckett wrote fan fiction. Theatre, Assembly Rooms
Charlie Caper – Artifice Intelligence
As fans of Arthur C Clarke know, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Charlie Caper has taken this literally, with a show that combines robotics and AI with traditional sleight of hand. His lovely assistant is an AI research platform, and his patter includes plenty of references to classic sci-fi. It’s a show that gives some wonder back to the technology we either fear or take for granted. We always suspected David Blaine was an android. Magic, PBH Free Fringe (Liquid Rooms)
Hymns for Robots
Long before Jodie Whittaker or Tom Baker, or even William Hartnell and the Tardis first appeared on screen, Doctor Who was already groundbreaking. Its instantly-iconic theme tune was first heard in 1963 and was like nothing before it. Hymns for Robots takes you through its creation, along with the story of Delia Derbyshire, now acknowledged as the mother of electronic music. A mix of drama and music (both digital and analogue), prepare to hear sounds from beyond our universe. Music, C Venues
Like Drowning
The Fringe is a time to support new and experimental writing, and writers don’t get much more new or experimental than artificial intelligence. Using AI to generate characters, local company Theatre Paradok picks apart themes of gender, identity and abuse, showing that you don’t have to be a machine to be caught up in a grinding system. Theatre, theSpace
Rik Carranza presents: Star Trek vs Star Wars
It’s the conflict at the heart of all nerdom. Luke or Kirk? Data or C-3PO? Lucas or Roddenberry? Who rules the stars? Comedian and superfan Rik Carranza hosts a rotating panel of comedians, who argue for their respective franchise before a final audience vote. It’s an opportunity to utterly geek out for an hour, and a reminder that comedians are, by and large, a nerdy bunch. Carranza also has a solo show this year named Still a Fan, which is a more personal account of his Star Trek fandom. Comedy, Gilded Balloon
Questing Time
The Fringe gets a bit strange after dark, a bit spiky. Shows like Late ‘n’ Live are notorious bear pits, where comedians are torn apart by rowdy, drunk crowds. But they’ve never been gored by a mind flayer, have they? Hosted by Paul Foxcroft, in Questing Time comedians forgo the Fringe’s traditional late-night fish supper to take on a Dungeons and Dragons campaign – proving, in the process, just how similar role-playing and improv comedy can be. Comedy, Pleasance Courtyard
MARVELus: All the Marvel Movies. Kind of. 2018
Over the years, the Fringe has developed an entire subgenre of staged or improvised versions of cult favourites, from Star Wars to Harry Potter. MARVELus might be the most ambitious of them all, as it attempts to cover an entire decade of superhero worldbuilding within one hour. Gary Tro and Javier Jarquin (who call themselves The Just Us League) split the adventures of Iron Man and his pals down into sketches. They know their audience. Expect punchlines based on deep Marvel lore, but they’re not above pointing out some of the less heroic elements in the franchise. Comedy, Gilded Balloon
Action Figure Archive with Steve McLean
Time was, you had to put away childish things in order to become an adult. Not any more. Today’s action figures are expensive, 3D-scanned likenesses intended for adult collectors. Nevertheless, they can’t compare to the Darth Vader you had when you were five, right? Well, Steve McLean has cracked open his old toy chest and found something disturbing. Could it be that all of those beloved toys from Star Wars, Transformers, He-Man et al were just a bit rubbish? A fun examination of nostalgia and nerdiness, if nothing else Action Figure Archive shows how much the toy market has grown up since you were young. Comedy, PBH Free Fringe (52 Canoes)
Void
Based on JG Ballard’s novel Concrete Island – where an architect is marooned in the middle of a motorway – this is a great example of what happens when the Fringe meets sci-fi (‘Fri-fi’). Crunching dance moves from Melanie Forbes-Broomes are set to a crunching soundtrack (remember, Ballard also wrote Crash). The story is abstracted across a surreal digital backdrop, and by the time you leave Summerhall, a former veterinary hospital, the world outside will seem a little bit more interesting. Dance, Summerhall
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
