Bremner, Bird & Fortune: Lyric Theatre, London, 2001
Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe 25th Anniversary Gala: Assembly George Square, Edinburgh, 2016
Rory Bremner and Jan Ravens: Underbelly George Square, Edinburgh, 2018
Rory Bremner is one of the UK’s top satirical and political impersonators. I first saw him perform with colleagues John Bird and John Fortune at the Lyric Theatre in London in 2001. One of the best satire shows with Bird and Fortune heavily appearing in monologue segments, the pin-sharp writing was superb and up-to-the-minute. Bremner was absolutely brilliant – like a chameleon he can change to suit any character from Tony Blair to George W Bush in an instant.
Bremner, Bird and Fortune’s book: You Are Here was released in 2004 and I met Bremner at a book signing. As well as signing the book he asked me for my favourite impression which was Michael Parkinson. He duly obliged with the signature and the accurate impression and I took my signed book and grinning I walked out of the room.
I saw Bremner again at the 25th Anniversary Gala of Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe. What amazed me about this guest performance was how versatile Bremner was since I had last seen him creating many more impersonations with ease.
I sat on the front row of a packed audience of the Underbelly in George Square to watch two of Britain’s most popular impressionists Bremner and Jan Ravens join forces for one show. Bremner impersonated everyone from Donald Trump via Tony Blair and Boris Johnson to Dara O’Briain and David Attenborough. They both had fifteen minutes on stage and appeared twice solo before culminating in a brilliant conceived Fawlty Towers Brexit sketch (with Bremner as Basil and Ravens as Sybil) towards the end of the hour. The impressions and sketches were very accurate, brilliant written and conceived as ever and both talented stars made for a very pleasance hour at the Fringe.
Bremner has been and continues to be one of the best mimics in the country.