It’s hard to think of anything that sounds like more of an Edinburgh Fringe cliché than a one-man spoof film noir; for that reason alone I’ve avoided Joe Bone’s ‘Bane’ and ‘Bane 2’ at the last couple of festivals. This was silly of me; both shows are extremely funny and Bone’s performance is phenomenal. He plays 79 characters – from imperturbable underworld enforcer Bruce Bane to Bane’s excruciating neighbour Neil to a pair of gay Russian mobsters – with total conviction, chameleon physicality and a splendid array of accents.
The real joy comes from the craftsmanship Bone has put in – there are some dizzyingly elaborate set pieces here, notably a wonderful send up of the high-school dance scene from ‘Back to the Future’.
Over two hours, Bane himself wears rather thin: he’s not a character, just a collection of clichés about spies, PIs, and lone heroes; I suspect a projected ‘Bane 3’ might be a bridge too far. But it’s all good fun for now, and the fringe can surely only hold a performer of Bone’s calibre for so long.