Fringe regular takes to Perth stage

May 19 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

SCHOLARLY comedian Bruce Fummey is clearly a man on a mission.

Taking to the Perth Theatre stage for the latest performance of his acclaimed ‘About Robert the Bruce’, the third in a series recent outings on a Scottish history theme, the Blackford-based funnyman made it clear his remit was to inform, as much as entertain, while expounding on the life and times of his most famous ancestor.

The Edinburgh Fringe regular enjoys a loyal following on his home patch and any concerns among those previously only fleetingly exposed to the comic that this would be an exercise in earnest navel-gazing were quickly blown away during a hilarious preamble.

Fummey’s formative experiences as the child of a Scottish mother and Ghanaian father growing up in the Fair City’s hard school of knocks helped set the tone for his appraisal of the misunderstood 14th Century King of the Scots.

Poking ridicule at the orthodox view of Anglo-Scottish relations as peddled by English academics, Fummey also pitched a few acerbic jibes in the direction of his traditional rival clans in Nigeria and Fife.

While managing to veer off on tangents that included wickedly amusing sermons on Scotland’s drink culture, royals in Nazi uniforms and the dubious pleasure in being recognised off-stage, his stated intention to enlighten his listeners on a pivotal era in the nation’s past was emphatically fulfilled, even if there were a few moments when those hailing from south of Carlisle may have wanted to make a sharp exit.

Clearly no shrinking violet, Fummey pumped out the sort of industrial language that would normally see him sidelined by the headmaster, while handling his material with an authority that made his deceptively flippant quip, “See, I’m a bit brainy” seem like the understatement of the year.

A physics teacher to trade, his infectious zeal for Scottish history has led him to create no less than a new form of stand-up and, dare I say it, a potential solution to classroom boredom.

Fummey’s innovative ‘edu-comedy’ genre succeeds by delivering pertinent comments on collective identity with a cutting, topical edge, all encapsulated in his unique take on a legendary anecdote about a man talking to a spider in a cave.

Long may King Bruce reign!

Andrew Welsh