XL Video sponsored Mick Perrin's Just For Laughs Live which produced several comedy shows at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and also supplied video equipment to a number of other productions including the world premier of the acclaimed “Only The Brave” musical by Daniel Sparrow & Patrick Gracey. XL Video's association with Perrin dates back some years and includes working with cutting-edge comedy artists like Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Dylan Moran, Tony Robinson and many others. The 2008 Edinburgh Festival work was project managed for XL by arts and theatre specialist, Malcolm Mellows.
The Green Room XL supplied all a/v display and source equipment for this venue which featured 6 American stand up comedians each night between 6 and 10 p.m.. They included Morgan Murphy, Jamie Kilstein, Rick Shapiro and Joke-o-oke, all of whom integrated varying degrees of video into their shows. Also for the Green room, XL supplied two large plasma screens for the shop window adjacent to the venue, running loops advertising the various shows and events. Over in the Pleasance Hut for Mick Perrin was another plasma with a DVD/laptop playback system.
(Everyone's….) Walking About Screens Custom engineered by XL Video's Alan Drake, the first ever Video ‘Sandwich Board' was in action at the 2008 Fringe, featuring two 17 inch monitors, speakers and onboard MP3 player, powered by a powerful battery pack. This was walked around the city centre advertising various Just For Laughs shows as well as another XL supported production “Sir Barrington Ganch – My Life Is Art”. The Electronic Press kits from different artists were specially edited for the walkabout screens by Duncan McLean, technical production manager for the Barrington show.
Barrington Ganch – My Life is Art One of the most talked-about and funniest shows on the fringe, conceived by Jez Fielder and Duncan McLean, Sir Barrington Ganch made his final Fringe appearance after 70 years of doing it all …… rather badly! Video was definitely another actor in this show charting the illustrious thespian career of Sir Barrington, over a quiet brandy-accompanied fireside chat in his drawing room. Staged in C Cubed in an intimate Masonic meeting room, one projector was used to produce a highly authentic roaring fire effect, and another to relay narrative information accompanying the show. Fed from a Catalyst digital media server, all footage for this was specially produced by Fielder and McLean.
Only The Brave Continuing its close working relationship with video, multimedia and visual art specialists Mesmer, XL Video supplied Sven Ortel with a Barco CLM projector for this innovative new production which received rave reviews. Dramatic video backdrops designed and produced by Ortel ran throughout the show, combining seamlessly with Matthew Haskins' lighting.
Nina Conti Just For Laughs artiste Nina Conti used video for the first time in her hilarious “Evolution” show, performed at the Pleasance 2. This followed a series of warm ups in London utilising a smaller AV set up which was a huge success. The kit was Sanyo XP57 projectors and a front projection screen, with playback from a laptop.
Dorian Gray The New Adventures production of Dorian Gray, a darkly seductive dance theatre event, was presented by master storyteller Mathew Bourne, with images created by Mark Grimmer of Fifty-Nine Productions. XL supplied Panasonic projection with Catalyst playback for this highly visual and witty portrayal, set in the image obsessed world of contemporary art and politics. It told the classic story of an exceptionally alluring young man making a pact with the devil!
Malcolm Mellows comments, “This has been XL Video's most prominent and worthwhile involvement at the Edinburgh Fringe to date. It is always an exciting and vibrant time. Working with existing and new clients and friends on all sizes and types of production at all stages of their development is a great opportunity to see creative people working their magic”. He adds, “Local house crews at the Fringe are often required to run equipment they've not used before, and we've received a great response and massive support from all the technicians in the XL Video supplied venues. I take this opportunity to thank everyone”.