Arts diary: Henry the Hoover breaks out of the vacuum to blow his own instrument

Published on Wednesday 23 June 2010 19:49

IT TAKES something to impress in the run-up to August, but one press release this week produced a sharp intake of breath. Has he really taught a vacuum cleaner to play the sax?

Comic Steve Aruni claims it took two years to design and build a singing, saxophone-playing "Henry the Hoover." He is part of the Fringe show Three Men and a Hoover.

A quick web search reveals Henry has a cult following on YouTube, from simple scenes of childhood fun to, well, acts like this. Aruni does get "Henry the Groover" to play the sax, but this is not a children's show. (It's 14+ in the Fringe programme, parents take note.)

Out for launch

WITH less than six weeks to the Edinburgh festivals, most have now unveiled their programmes, usually at formal launches, though the Mela only launched at Leith Links on Tuesday. How did they do?

At its most basic, a festival launch is simply issuing the list of shows and announcing that the box office is open. But at its best it makes a media splash, and a statement of intent.

There have been radically different approaches this year.

The Fringe, as always, is an artistic free-for-all, as was its programme's official launch date on 10 June. But with everyone from comedy promoters to venues to individual shows vying for attention, and multimedia forums for them to play with, there's not much question of keeping content under wraps.

Many shows and their stars can make standalone headlines – from Alan Cumming to Abi Titmuss to, er, Henry – and promoters know it.

The trend was particularly noticeable this year, with some venues starting to sell early tickets for some big shows, on the grounds they (and the punters) need longer booking time. The Fringe office could have to follow suit if early launches are seen to skew business away from the new and untested work which has been basis of the Fringe "dream" for performers.

The Edinburgh International Festival takes a different launch approach: it unleashes the lot, in a splurge in March, and tries to police its secrets until then. .

The Edinburgh International Book Festival traditionally followed the same pattern until this June, when it released the entire slate of big names to its main sponsor a day early.

The fourth of the big guns, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, has cultivated a singular approach. Recently moved to June, it went for a late launch date, but individually announced a series of big names and events – adding author Nick Hornby, for example, and musician Nick Cave, as part of a literary-screenwriting strand.

The verdict is still out on the EIFF's new brand as a "festival of discovery" – at least according to some commentators. The film festival may have more flexibility to add star turns in that some can simply join a red carpet. But for journalists the media strategy made coverage of the highlights much easier.

Port of call

ONE eye-catching festival programme, released almost without fanfare, in just 1,500 printed copies, was for this week's West Port Book Festival.

It kicks off today with poet Douglas Dunn at Edinburgh Books in the West Port. He's described as the festival's capo dei capi. Ken Macleod follows, with his latest novel The Night Sessions; and then the incomparable Owen Dudley Edwards. But the festival is not about headliners, and in other respects is totally different from its giant brethren. It has no budget to speak of, only 50 per cent of tickets are booked in advance, it probably plays mostly to local regulars, takes things year by year, and sounds completely charming.

The four-day festival, with about two dozen events, was launched three years ago after a building collapse closed the West Port, creating a testing time for bookshops in the shadow of the Castle. It moved from August to June this year.

Dunn's opener is becoming a minor institution. "We have had him every year, we just really like having him," said Peggy Hughes, who describes herself as "something like programme director".

Offerings run from book-binding sessions to "quite cool collaborators", she said. The "mystery guest" on Friday is Frank Quitely, the comic-book artist who worked with Grant Morrison on X-Men, Batman and Robin and other titles.

It's all done on a shoestring, authors don't get paid and venues run from bookshops to the 200-seat St Mark's ArtSpace, new this year.

"We just take it year by year," said Hughes. "It's quite cheery, and a bit different, and we quite often have cakes by accident."