Letter from Edinburgh: Terror attacks become fodder for bad taste

By MIKA*

Opening night in a festival is a big thing for any performer. Nerves, makeup, audience ... is there an audience? (Official festival average: seven patrons.) In the castle above, Edinburgh Tattoo cannons blast while below frantic performers scatter free tickets. However, in my fifth Edinburgh season Mika Haka opened with a full house, and we are happy.

As festival fever kicks in, the usual platoon of British television comics arrives: Greg Proops, Bill Bailey, Alan Davies. Good to see New Zealand there too: Ewen Gilmour, Rhys Darby, the Naked Samoans and Humouroids.

Now, abandon all sense of good taste, because this year September 11 is the topic for all PR-hungry shows. Hollywood A-list couple Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon star in The Guys, a tribute to the emergency services. Of course, it's sold out. Pseudo-US drag star Tina C offers her politically incorrect Twin Towers Tribute, with Tina's legs replacing the towers on her poster. This was enough to put her at the top of one critic's hit list. Even theatre legend Steven Berkoff has cooked up a Requiem to Ground Zero.

Festival veterans know if you want to sell tickets here, you need gimmicks; sadly, global tragedy is not outside the loop.

I prefer old-fashioned attention-seeking. Nudity: Puppetry of the Penis turns up again - amazing how long a one-joke show can run. Gender-bending: The Ladyboys of Bangkok are back with their lip-synching Thai drag queens. Kitsch: Sing-a-long ABBA or The Jerry Springer Opera.

The International Festival remains the face of highbrow art, but in the Fringe anything goes. The combination is wonderful - where else can you see the Flanders Ballet, naked testicle contortionists and Nancy Sinatra all in one day?

There is a publicity stunt afoot this year which Freedom Air could look at. Budget British airline Easy Jet has a new form of inflight entertainment. On the London to Edinburgh commuter planes live festival acts are performing eight-minute extracts of their work. The passengers are given score cards to rate the performer. Apparently the airline turned down a 20-minute Korean drum solo.

My crew Torotoro bring me back to the beat on the street when they scan the brochures. They are in their element with news of a big session of world-class music and dance. World DJ champ Plus One is in town along with the mighty DJ Shadow. It's strange to see such quality hip-hop culture in Edinburgh. Brown sounds are not particularly popular here and finding a club without trance house music is a mammoth task.

* Mika is leader of Torotoro/Urban Dance Crew, performing at the Edinburgh Festival.