“It’s all gone downhill. It’s not what it was.” The first comedian I bump into in Machynlleth’s high street is Stewart Lee who, typically, (ironically) mocks the rampant commercialism of the Machnylleth Comedy Festival, now in its fifth year. An estimated 4000 comedy fans visited the small Welsh town this weekend, compared to around 500 in the first year, but the increase in size, or the bulging programme of events, does not mean the festival has betrayed its boutique roots. Perfect weather, perfect fans, perfect comedy. How could anyone complain?
The main reason for Lee’s lacerating cod-cynicism was him seeing a critic finding their way to Wales from London. I found myself in an odd position this weekend. In the first couple of years the festival’s founder Henry Widdicombe was keen for me to come and kept pointing out how it was only one train change from Birmingham. Then this year I finally decided to go. And while Henry didn’t exactly ban me, he pointed out that many of the shows over the three days were Edinburgh warm-ups and not reviewable. I was welcome to come, but then he said the words every critic dreads: “but you’ll have to buy your own tickets.”
Anyway, I’m not put off that easily. However, out of respect to Henry and his festival and his acts I have decided not to review any of the shows I saw. Instead what follows is more of a picture-based 
report, catching comedians relaxing and sort-of off-duty on the two days I was there. This is such a laid-back festival it makes Kilkenny’s more established intimate Cat Laughs Festival feel like the frenzied Edinburgh Fringe by comparison. The sign on the hill (pictured left, all pictures copyright Bruce Dessau ©) might resemble the famous Hollywood sign, but this festival is about as far as you can get from the showbiz firmament.
Although having said that there is a strange recurring undercurrent of low-level anxiety, here. This is the point where comedians have to start getting their act 
together for August. I bumped into Bridget Christie (pictured right) just outside the town park and she pointed out that the Machfest last year was where she first did her Bic biro routine that formed the centrepiece of her 2013 Foster’s Award winning show. I didn’t see Christie’s show over the weekend, but, as she was quick to add, it could be very different but the time it opens in Edinburgh. We calculated that there are 12 weeks to go, but Christie pointed out there are only ten weeks for her, as she plans to have a two-week family holiday in July.
As I said I’m not going to review gigs as such, but having arrived on the Saturday (day two of the festival) I did catch some interesting shows. At the top of the tower of the Owain Glyndwr Centre double act and real-life sisters Toby presented their latest warped take on the sketch show genre. It is less personal than their last show but still comes laced with a garnish of sibling rivalry which should set it apart from the usual female double acts on the Fringe.
Later that night I caught Nick Helm. Again I won’t review him. Nick was a blur as he hurled himself onstage (see picture right) at the Owain Glyndwr Centre - he was planning to do eight shows over the weekend to try out material for his new BBC3 TV series and Edinburgh show. I 
caught his fourth show of the day and maybe he was wilting a little, but the hour was 
certainly memorable for a wince-inducing story that felt like it owed more to Lars Von Trier than it did to Helm’s usual tragi-comic tales of sexual failure.
Finally I popped into anarchic roving cult game show Git, which was doing a one-off at the Y Plas centre. This is a three-hander with Dan Atkinson, Lloyd Langford and Jon Richardson in which they do their own unqiue version of a social media-based improvised quiz. Well, that’s what they said it was about, but the highlight had little to do with Facebook or Twitter. Instead it was Langford and Atkinson having to indentify wines as they were squirted at their faces while they were blindfolded. Or in Atkinson’s case as the wine was fired at him from a gun while he wore a gimp mask (pictured left).
And so that was my first day at the Machynlleth Festival. I was way too tired to go to the post-gig disco where Henry Widdicombe and his brother Josh were DJing. Apparently Josh's radical post-Fatboy Slim style involved sitting down at the wheels of steel. I guess it had been a long day for all of us. Now I'd have liked to have reviewed that. Stay tuned for Day 2. Downhill? I don't think so.
Click here to read Part Two.
