CLIVE JAMES IN THE EVENING
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ASSEMBLY @ THE QUEEN'S HALL (VENUE 72)CLIVE James is revered by the people of his adopted homeland and, even though he withdrew himself discreetly from the nation's television screens when he
turned 60 in 2000, he clearly remains a major cultural touchstone for many.
Thus "retired", he keeps busy writing books and poetry, and now brings two shows to the Fringe. The first is an afternoon chat show, with a different guest each day, drawn mainly from the Book Festival's line-up.
As the format is pretty much a solid hour of chat between James and his guest, it depends pretty heavily on who he is interviewing as to whether or not you will be held in thrall; the day I saw him his guest was Roy Hattersley, which, without disrespect to the erudite former MP, made for a pretty dry hour surveying the history of the Labour Party since 1945. This weekend's guests – Armando Iannucci tomorrow and Richard Dawkins on Sunday – promise to be more diverting.
More entertaining entirely is James's evening sermon, conducted in the Queen's Hall. Resplendent in M&S menswear from top to toe, our host is somewhere near his sparkling best when holding forth on subjects as diverse as the Edinburgh rain, Australia and Britain's Olympic rivalry, Max Moseley's recent tribulations, and the nightmare scenario of the Y-front becoming the Q-front. He rambles a little in places but, given his advancing years and the esteem in which he is generally held, he is quickly forgiven for that.
• Until 24 August. Today 4:30pm & 7:30pm
The full article contains 287 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
