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Sunday, August 23, 2009

Edinburgh - Fringe Festival: Raybon Kan

We saw Raybon Kan (the New Zealander) last night at The Globe.
Not a bad show but not the best we have seen.
About 1/4 of the crowd were kiwis.

Here is an excert from his website (I thought it was pretty funny):

This week I have been the victim of street crime. I was pickpocketed in London. I lost my entire wallet: credit cards, eftpos cards, driver’s licence. Fortunately, I still have my passport, so I was able to go to the bank the next day, and prove I am the owner of that account — yes that one — the one with no money in it.
I am never giving anyone directions again. And — I am also never hugging anyone on the street again. And — mark my words — I am definitely not dancing with anyone on the street either.
Here’s what happened. It was about 2am on Saturday. I was walking home, intoxicated. (If anything, this is the moral choice.) To help me find my way, I was using a compass. I bought this a week ago in Paris, to solve this problem I have, emerging from underground train stations, and not knowing which way is north.
A man with an Italian accent asked me for directions. I thought, I must really look like I know my way.
I told him to bear north-northwest. I admit, it pleased me to have superior geography to someone else.
And then — he hugged me.
I didn’t want to reject him. I didn’t want to offend his Continental notions of personal space. The hug took quite a while. But he was not finished thanking me.
I realise, as I recount this, I probably still had my wallet at that point.
Because now, he beckoned me into a Greek-style man-dance, where he stood by my side, and put an arm over my shoulder. He lifted one of his legs, and implied, by demonstrating, that I do the same, and entwine one of my legs with his, in a three-legged can-can hop. Man. I thought I was drunk. This guy is wasted.
Maybe it’s my open-mindedness, or my dance training, but I obliged. What can I say — he led well.
And that was that.
It wasn’t til the next day I noticed my wallet was missing. I didn’t suspect the Italian guy. He was lost. Wouldn’t he have taken my compass instead?
Still, better pickpocketed than being mugged. If I’d been mugged, I’d have felt traumatised. This way, I just felt over-charmed.

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