Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds:
The One Man Rock Opera
Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds
Gilded Balloon Teviot @ 23:45, Aug 1-26, (50mins), £8.00 (£7.00), £9.00 (£8.00)
*****
Comparisons become elusive with this fellow. There’s nothing quite like Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds (you see what I did there!?) But really there isn’t. There are other performers of late who have well and truly immersed themselves in the plinky plonky world of bleepy toys, Casio and Yamaha keyboards and other such digital delights, like Kid Carpet, but this guy is an absolute enigma.

Imagine, if you will, a man in pants… with a clown face. Now stop, pause, breathe, relax… he will not harm you! He can get a little wound up from time to time as his equipment goes predictably awry, but I assure you he’s completely benign. Now imagine that he’s knocking out crazy malformed pop tunes like an emphatic loon… you’re getting closer. Then imagine that being done in an intimate environment, and it’s awful, so awful that’s its excellent.

Now you’re almost capable of picturing the scene, although frankly Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds has to be seen to be believed, and even when you’re there you’ll still be glancing around at fellow audience members for reassurance that you’re not alone in your bafflement. It’s a sheer bewildering delight. It goes full circle, waving maniacally on the edge of the ‘so bad it’s good’ section of entertainment hoping to coax in stray pedestrians and devour their sanity.

He’s got some great tunes too, including such wonderous anthems as: ‘Don’t Join The Army Unless You Want To Kill People’ and ‘Is This A Song’. There’s even a half time interlude guest appearance from his friend and associate; Ray – Man of Words who does a delightful cover version of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air song.

I left this gig grinning like an idiot and shaking my head in the hope that the brain fangled jumbly mess he’d left upstairs would shuffle itself into place, but the performance lingered taking several hours for me to be able to think straight again. This is a gloriously unmissable festival highlight that you’ll talk about for yonks, you’ll possibly even be accused of senility when you try and explain it to your grandkids. He’s playing in the Gilded Balloon’s Wee Room, so only a tiny fraction of those attending the festival will get to see Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds, please let it be you! Go to the pub, and then go see this. It’s a fabulous fiasco, an unforgettably wonderful shambles.

by Ian Phillips

The National Student's
2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
coverage is supported by