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Jessie Cave: Bookworm
Published on Saturday, 11 August 2012
5

5 stars

Underbelly, Cowgate (venue website)
Comedy
2-12, 14-26 Aug, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Reviewed by Mathilda Gregory

 Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

Jessie Cave is starting a book club called Bookworms United. It’s a place to celebrate Narnia, Sweet Valley High and Lisbeth Salander. A marvellous safe haven for all of us who have taken refuge from life’s cruel blows in books. And it is an utter joy.

Cave, our hostess for this extraordinary show, is a quite staggering comic creation. Part real, the details of Cave’s own life, such as appearing in Harry Potter, are interwoven into this heightened, hilarious character - who has four siblings all named after international tennis players. The colourful set has a distinct Josie Long aesthetic, and Cave’s sister BB helps out, while trying to get her own performance about The Hunger Games into the show.

The whole thing is consistently very funny, experimental and often surreal. A cleverly introduced audience plant comes up on stage and takes over, reading out one of the more famously over-descriptive passages from 50 Shades of Gray. Tribute is paid to Celeste, the long-suffering and over-looked wife from the Babar books. A song about the untimely death of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo author Steig Larson is both gleefully histrionic and poignant. And there are also shadow puppets… shadow puppets telling a story that is supposedly inspired by Madame Bovary and the Yellow Wallpaper, but also takes place in a Surrey nightclub.

This show has a distinct, possibly unique mood and maintains it consistently throughout. The performers are all exquisitely suited to their roles, and the whole thing is a proper don’t-want-this-to-end joy. And it’s an especially enjoyable show for anyone who ever nursed and impossible crush on the ever-misunderstood Edmund Pevensie.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES

These are archived reviews of shows from Edinburgh 2012.  We keep our archives online as a courtesy to performers, and for readers who'd like to research previous years' reviews.

Edinburgh 2012 Five Stars

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The House of Shadows


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Tony Law: Nonsense Overdrive


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Ivo Graham and Liam Williams


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Hannibal Buress: Still Saying Stuff


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The Blanks' Big Break


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Richard Wiseman: Psychobabble


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Martin Mor: A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday


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1984


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Swedenborg, the Devil and Me


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The Trench


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Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut


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Joyced!


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An Evening With Dementia


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Scott Agnew: Tales of the Sauna


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Chris Ramsey: Feeling Lucky


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The Horne Section - Live at the Grand!


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How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found


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Jonny Woo: Wonder Woo-Man


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Josie Long: Romance and Adventure


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10 Films With My Dad


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4.48 Psychosis


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As You Like It


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Appointment With The Wicker Man


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Jessie Cave: Bookworm


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Morgan & West: Lying, Cheating Scoundrels


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Hearts on Fire


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Rainbow


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Chris Dangerfield: Sex Tourist


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Chris McCausland: Not Blind Enough


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