Earlier this year, a show titled ‘Andrew and the Pony’ was due to be entered into the Brighton Fringe by two men: Andrew Bridge and a man who owned a pink pony costume. Two hours before the deadline for submission, the pink pony pulled out, leaving Andrew with a show based around ponies but none of the equine breed to hand.
Thus, ‘Andrew and the Pony’ became the story of a child, who desired to ride a pony. He grew into an adult who still, disturbingly, wanted to ride a pony. Go and see it. Directed by Jay Moy, it’s a mix of slide shows, surreal dream sequences, music, group singing, psychotherapy, show jumping, horse breeding and, most of all, pony obsession. Bridge is hilariously deadpan all the way through. He often reads from his diary, including a great series of extracts about the selfish behaviour of his seriously ill friend Paul. We sing along with his weird songs in which pretty much the only word is ‘Pony’. Bridge’s monologue is dissected by short videos of his dreams which are, as he comments, surprisingly ‘well filmed’. He works so well with the audience, at times encouraging them to indulge in a short meditation class and at others to join with him in his besotted melodies. Bridge is a phenomenal performer, disciplined and charismatic with a fantastic voice for both storytelling and singing. And he’s only got one joke about Tesco.
Just go and see it.
If you missed ‘Andrew and the Pony’ at the Camden Fringe, you can see it at Cowgatehead, Edinburgh from the 19th till the 25th August as part of the Free Fringe. That means it’s free. Amazing. Have a look at their website here: http://www.andrewandthepony.com/