The Arcade Bar has to be one of the worst performance spaces in Edinburgh. This is no sleight on the establishment, as they can only work with what they have, but it is a statement of fact – it is cramped, it is ill-lit and the performers practically have to stand on top of the audience. Funnily enough, this setup kind of works for Grisha from Siberia but it’s a shame that he hasn’t pushed his act far enough to really outshine the venue.
The subject of immigration is still very much at the forefront of British news and, as Sacha Baron Cohen has proven, there is a wealth of fun to be had by putting a stranger in a foreign land. Grisha taps some of these reservoirs but he never properly explores the host of comical misunderstandings that can befall hapless visitors and the audience is left with the occasional titter rather than an outpouring of guffaws.
The main problem is that he seems unwilling to truly shock or offend his audience, but there is the suggestion that this material could really fly if he just swallowed his qualms and took Grisha into full Borat-mode and barraged his audience into shock and awe. As it stands, I’m A Celebrity is a little limp but there is definite potential for improvement.
2/5
Richard Biggs
