2014 Edinburgh Fringe

Baba Brinkman - The Rap Guide to Religion

  • Theatre
  • 2:30pm (60 mins)
  • 30 & 31 Jul; 1-10, 12-17 & 19-25 Aug 2014
  • Gilded Balloon Teviot
  • £8.50 - £10.50
Baba Brinkman - The Rap Guide to Religion. Baba Brinkman. Copyright: BBC
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14: Gilded Balloon Teviot

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Baba's unique brand of 'peer reviewed rap' brings together hip-hop, comedy, and behavioural sciences, striving to make sense of nature's most unpredictable primate. So what about religious beliefs? Do they provide an evolutionary benefit, or are they nothing but a virus of the mind? It's time to eff with the ineffable. Fringe First Award winner 2009, Spirit of the Fringe Award winner 2008, ThreeWeeks Editor's Award winner 2007. 'Warm, funny, and fascinating throughout' ***** (Chortle.co.uk). 'Astonishing and brilliant' (NY Times). 'Truly awe-inspiring' ***** (Scotsman). 'Genius ... staggeringly clever' ***** (ThreeWeeks).

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The Baba Brinkman three minute interview

Baba Brinkman picked up a Fringe First for The Rap Guide to Evolution back in 2009. This year he offers a trio of shows including Off the Top, The Canterbury Tales Remixed and The Rap Guide to Religion. Martin Walker caught up with Brinkman to find out more.

Martin Walker, Broadway Baby, 20th July 2014

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Hip-hop storytelling fresh from New York's SoHo Playhouse.

Jay-Z thanked god for winning a Grammy Award. Actually he thanked god 'a little bit' for the Grammy and mostly for giving him Beyonce, like Paris thanking Aphrodite for delivering Helen of Troy. Justin Bieber thanked not only god, but also Jesus, for his MTV Award. Does success breed religious belief? And if so, is nonreligious rap doomed to eternal underdog status?

Using his trademark 'peer reviewed rap', combining hip-hop, comedy, and behavioural sciences, Baba Brinkman puts religious beliefs under the microscope, exploring their evolutionary origins - is religion a group-level adaptation, a bi-product, or a 'virus of the mind'?

The audience will be recruited to (temporarily) join several enlightening (if not enlightened) religions, worshipping together at the altar of many idols. Afterwards, the world will look like a less perplexing and less pathological place.

It's time to eff with the ineffable.

Baba Brinkman is a pioneer of a whole new approach to theatre, bringing the excitement of a rap concert together with the wit of a comedian and the mind-expansion of a TED Talk. He pioneered this hybrid concept at the Fringe in 2004, and it has been a hit with audiences worldwide ever since. Baba is coming to Edinburgh fresh from a major tour (The Rap Guide to Evolution) of nine venues across Australia in May and June, including the Victoria Arts Centre and the Sydney Opera House. Whilst touring The Rap Guide to Evolution around the American South Baba managed to stir up considerable controversy and powerful emotions, and it was his clashes with creationists that got him interested in the religious questions that fuel his latest show. The Rap Guide To Religion is directed by SoHo Playhouse Artistic Director, Darren Lee Cole.

Performances

Date Time Venue
30th Jul 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
31st Jul 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
1st Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
2nd Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
3rd Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
4th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
5th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
6th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
7th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
8th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
9th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
10th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
12th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
13th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
14th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
15th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
16th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
17th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
19th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
20th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
21st Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
22nd Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
23rd Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
24th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot
25th Aug 2014 14:30 Gilded Balloon Teviot

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