Iain Heggie looks chipper if not dapper as he takes the stage for an hour’s worth of racontuering.
Having checked his mobile for incoming, he proceeds to take us on a tour of his native Glasgow that only sometimes leaves Central Station.
‘Facebooked!’ is perhaps none the worse for that, though it does seem a pity from a show whose title derives from what, for at least some of those of a certain generation, has become a principal medium of communication.
The ‘Yoof’ we are told, have moved on, and certainly most of this reviewer’s Facebook ‘Friends’ fall into the 40+ bracket, but Heggie is more concerned with telling a tale or two than diving into the depths of contradiction that surround this favoured social tool.
‘Remember that this life is but a sport and a pastime’ urges the Koran, as my very good friend Ms. Mohammed frequently reminds me, and Heggie’s tales segue around some very diverse characters and incidents to suggest this, from a mouse imbued with the spirit of Harry Houdini to some very dubious encounters on a canal bank, not to mention a very camp barista.
Although Heggie’s frequent mentions of his friend Alison top and tail a number of these, there’s no other attempt to connect either the characters themselves or to connect (in any sense) to the aforementioned dread social mechanism. Heggie, personable and entertaining as he undoubtedly is, isn’t in himself enough to generate a sense that these are anything other than unconnected encounters.
Which, of course, is very often the Facebook experience of random postings of plates of food one is supposed to admire, groups of children likewise, next to incoherent late night ramblings or robust expressions of opinion countered by others equally so.
None of which, of course, amount to more than endless examples of ‘self-expression’ likely to make one want to avoid the selves doing the expressing.
Perhaps it’s expecting too much and a search for what was never intended in the first place to seek such connections here. For all that, Heggie remains extremely entertaining (even when being extreme) and ‘Facebooked!’ offers an entertaining amuse-bouche amidst the Fringe’s more solid fare.
07-30 August (not 17th)