THE LIST – 4 STARS!

http://www.list.co.uk/article/12107-literally/

21 AUGUST 2008 – Emma Newlands

Taking an admirably no-prisoners stance against the abuse and misuse of the word ‘literally’, Paul Parry delivers his anecdotes and research tongue-in-cheek (though not literally). His smart, dry humour and Viz-style subversive pedantry combine with his Gormanesque tales of an eccentric, unpredictable and far-flung journey just to prove a point.

THE SCOTSMAN REVIEW - 4 STARS!

http://living.scotsman.com/edinburghfestivalfringe/Comedy-Review-Literally.4406762.jp

20 AUGUST 2008 – KATE COPSTICK

There is, in the media today, a 28 per cent instance of misuse of the word “literally”. So Paul Parry tells us at the beginning of this entertaining show. Literally takes a man who cares about the English language, a series of figurative expressions, a year of living decidedly oddly and the power of PowerPoint and turns them into a lovely hour.

Parry is the UK’s self-appointed ‘Literally Tsar’. In the interests of making his point, he has, literally, gone to Hell and back, from A to B, got to ‘know his onions’, bitten off more than he could chew, and discovered what are the greatest things since sliced bread. Parry is an amiable stage presence, self-deprecating but smart. His mini-travelogue taking him from A to B by tandem was fascinating as well as funny (A being in Norway, which seems to lead the world in odd place names, and B being in the USA).

His tale of biting off more than he could chew involved an attempt on the Great British Breakfast Eating Championship, hosted by Stuart Hall, a man not averse to the old mixed metaphor himself. Stuart kept his linguistic excesses to a minimum and Paul came in second.

Parry’s point is a good one, cleverly and humorously made. He ends his show with the audience (well, one member of it) literally eating out of his hand and, I hope, thinking twice about they way they use language in future. It would be a kick in the ribs were Parry to have sweat blood and worked his fingers to the bone to make this breath of fresh air of a show, only to find himself spitting in the wind. He’d be gutted.

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE  - 3 STARS

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe08-102.htm#L

August 2008 - Review by Graeme Strachan

The correct use of the English language is an important thing to Paul Parry, as his show is testimony not only to his obsession over making sure that people use words like ‘Literally’ in the correct context but also that he has the ability to find good comedy in such a banal and dry subject. Charting the growth of his crusade from the first time that he got the idea, through his journey from A to Bee, (literally from Norway to America) and his further concessions to obeying the literal truth of several common sayings and onwards to his comedy performance at the Fringe.

Parry manages to make what could, in lesser hands, have been a dull and ungainly PowerPoint presentation, into a charming and laugh-out loud funny journey through his life. While it certainly kept the audience entertained, as well as informed and occasionally corrected, it also managed to keep the premise afloat for far longer than I would have though possible. It’s not a perfect stand-up act, as the frequent asides and concessions to the facts mean that the stories occasionally shut off in dead ends, or are simply dropped as Parry takes the story off in another direction. A more tightly constructed tale would have worked better, but that’s not to say that it isn’t a very entertaining and enjoyable way to literally spend and hour with a smile on your face.

CHORTLE - 3 STARS

http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/edinburgh_fringe_2008/l/16666/literally/review/

August 2008 - Review by Steve Bennett

Paul Parry has a bugbear with which pendants* everywhere will identify: that the word ‘literally’ is used wrongly literally 28 per cent of the time. To help spread the word, he’s decided to live out some figurative phrases, then explain all in this PowerPoint-driven stand-up show.

Explaining his obsession, with particular reference to football commentators, proves enjoyable, enlivened with a few jolly puns and visuals, at least once he gets his PC working all right.

The problem with PowerPoint is that it allows the shy to become stand-ups, as audiences end up looking at the screen much more than the comic. Parry, a former Tube worker, is quietly spoken and fades into the background of his own show. Though his style is amiable enough, he never really commands the room.

His main story, of literally travelling from A to B, is about as entertaining as showing holiday snaps can be. A is Norway, B is in Nebraska, and Parry decided to cycle the route – or at least as much of it as the Atlantic Ocean would allow. The road trip throws up enough interesting anecdotes and observations to sustain this routine’s extended running time.

But taking other maxims literally doesn’t throw up material really worthy of repeating. Knowing his onions means studying the subject in tedious depth, to no practical use, while biting off more than he can chew results in a mundane description of a gluttony contest he took part in.

It seems to be that he committed so much time and energy to doing these things, so feels he has to use them. But great storytelling shows are as much about what’s left out as what’s included, and maybe Parry should have tried a few more cliches until he found the funniest ones.

The hour’s wrapped up nicely as he returns to his main theme, but there’s a definite need for an editor’s eye here on some of the intervening material. A show like this needs no padding, but instead must try to squeeze a quart into a pint pot – not literally, of course.

*Hello, Reader. I can only assume he meant “pedant” here.

SCOTSGAY MAGAZINE - 4 STARS!

http://www.scotsgay.co.uk/pdf/sg83.pdf

AUGUST 2008 – TC

This is a one man show about the abuse of language and about travelling from A to B. You see a list of the world’s worst offenders when it comes to misusing the word “literally”, with many examples and much use of slides - such as a vision of one football team actually camping out in the goal area of the opposing team - sports commentators come off worst!

The fact that everything is delivered in a very deadpan, unexcited manner adds significantly to the hilarity. The audience laughter was much louder than Paul Parry’s delivery, which makes a great contrast to some shows.

The journey from A to B took Paul cycling from northern Norway (A) to the American mid-west (B). He was advised to use a tandem, and thus picked up many “passengers” who enlivened his journey. This was intriguing, but didn’t get the big laughs of the language-based material before and after.

If you want something really entertaining and different, hilarious and thought-provoking, which brings home the ridiculous ways we use language, get along to Paul Parry’s show. Strongly recommended!

BROADWAY BABY - 3 STARS

http://www.broadwaybaby.com/fringe/reviews/literally

AUGUST 2008 - Gordon Johnston

Paul Parry, PowerPoint and a projector all combine to tell us why misuse of the word ‘literally’ is so wrong that an entire Fringe show must be given over to the topic.

If Al Gore can trot around the globe PowerPointing-out the dangers of global warming, then why can’t Paul do the same for the equally important (to him anyway) bugbear of this common grammatical faux-pas?

Describing the show he’s about to give us as “educational and almost amusing”, he tells us of his extreme annoyance at the non-literal use of “literally”, and how much pain it causes him. In fact, in order to show just how literal he can be, he undertook to go “from A to B” just to say that he had literally done so. Finding the small Norwegian town of ‘A’ and cycling from there to the town of ‘Bee’ in Nebraska, USA, he peppers his description of his journey with witty asides and the ever-present PowerPoint snaps and graphs of his travels along the way.

Covering other bad examples of misuse, he finds a variety of amusing things to say about such howlers as “I was literally rat-arsed”, and “he literally made a mountain out of a molehill”. Managing to identify particularly bad sources of annoyance is Paul’s forte, such as news headlines and sports commentators who all too readily succumb to the bear trap that this phrase presents.

The comedy lecture can be difficult to pull off, and Paul pretty much nails it – coming across as a likeable (if somewhat obsessive-compulsive) guy. Catch his show for a pleasant hour of geek-comedy chuckles.