#EXNIHILO // First run: 2015 Edinburgh Fringe, Summerhall
Combining spoken word, storytelling and live electronic music, #EXNIHILO is a dramatic philosophical journey from darkness into light, from despair to mania.
**Order #EXNIHILO: THE BOOK and get the digital album FREE**
The debut one man show by Bram E. Gieben (aka Texture from Chemical Poets / Black Lantern Music / The Accelerator) explores nihilism, creation myths and political turmoil in a heart-stopping adventure from the Big Bang to the Apocalypse. A dynamic, high-energy blast of poetry, storytelling and blistering hip-hop philosophy with a live electronic soundtrack, it debuted at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Here's what the press and audiences had to say...
"A different kind of state of the nation address... a very personal and political attempt to make sense of the world... Gieben is skilled and eloquent enough to tread the right side of the line between indulgent cynicism and tapping into the sense of powerlessness and fatalism which many feel increasingly faced with in life... delivered with a rapper’s timing and [...] a dark, buzzing electronic background... Reflecting the invigorating freshness of the spoken word scene across the Central Belt of Scotland, Shift/ is a new programme of seven artists drawn from the very finest working in the sphere... each [artist] reveals personal and political concerns amidst beautifully deft and challenging wordplay."
★★★★ The Scotsman
"Bram is too skilled a writer and performer to let the audience off the hook with a bright and cheery spoken word show... he presents his own personal philosophy on life and the world we live in. Topics include being an outcast, the Scottish Referendum, activism and working class culture. The poems are performed over a dramatic electronic music soundtrack that the performer controls from a mixing desk.. a fitting musical backdrop to the cynicism, anger and ideas that are being presented on stage... ExNihilo is a show from a spoken word artist who is not afraid to take the the rough with the smooth... eloquently presenting interesting and though provoking ideas to an attentive and engaged audience."
★★★★ TV Bomb
"Pure quality spoken word... the set pieces are the star turns: poems like ‘Keep Going,’ and ‘Burn’ (the latter of which caused a fist fight at a Glasgow open mic night, apparently) are utterly engaging... Tear up your ticket to see the next stand up comedian, and go and see him instead."
Andrew C. Ferguson's Virtual Free Fringe
"Goddamn glorious... A Wu-Tang of Scottish spoken word... Each night is an opportunity to catch one of Scotland’s top spoken word performers alone on a stage but part of something bigger."
The Skinny
"A gripping journey from drowning in bleakness, to learning to swim in it... Will make you think... Gripping and thought-provoking... [A] killer, eye-opening show... An hour inside the mind of Bram E. Gieben is an intense place indeed... Urgently human... Powerful... Stretching the genre... Nihilistic socioeconomic doom... Simultaneously uplifting and depressing..."
Audience reviews from Twitter
"Foot stomping and raucous cheering are the order of the day."
- The National Newspaper
"Diverse and engaging... looks really interesting!"
- TVBomb Fringe Picks 2015
"Immediate and contemporary."
- Bella Caledonia Fringe Picks 2015
"A brilliant idea... if you’re in Edinburgh for a week, go every day."
- Kieran Hurley, playwright & theatre-maker
Combining spoken word, storytelling and live electronic music, #EXNIHILO is a dramatic philosophical journey from darkness into light, from despair to mania.
**Order #EXNIHILO: THE BOOK and get the digital album FREE**
The debut one man show by Bram E. Gieben (aka Texture from Chemical Poets / Black Lantern Music / The Accelerator) explores nihilism, creation myths and political turmoil in a heart-stopping adventure from the Big Bang to the Apocalypse. A dynamic, high-energy blast of poetry, storytelling and blistering hip-hop philosophy with a live electronic soundtrack, it debuted at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Here's what the press and audiences had to say...
"A different kind of state of the nation address... a very personal and political attempt to make sense of the world... Gieben is skilled and eloquent enough to tread the right side of the line between indulgent cynicism and tapping into the sense of powerlessness and fatalism which many feel increasingly faced with in life... delivered with a rapper’s timing and [...] a dark, buzzing electronic background... Reflecting the invigorating freshness of the spoken word scene across the Central Belt of Scotland, Shift/ is a new programme of seven artists drawn from the very finest working in the sphere... each [artist] reveals personal and political concerns amidst beautifully deft and challenging wordplay."
★★★★ The Scotsman
"Bram is too skilled a writer and performer to let the audience off the hook with a bright and cheery spoken word show... he presents his own personal philosophy on life and the world we live in. Topics include being an outcast, the Scottish Referendum, activism and working class culture. The poems are performed over a dramatic electronic music soundtrack that the performer controls from a mixing desk.. a fitting musical backdrop to the cynicism, anger and ideas that are being presented on stage... ExNihilo is a show from a spoken word artist who is not afraid to take the the rough with the smooth... eloquently presenting interesting and though provoking ideas to an attentive and engaged audience."
★★★★ TV Bomb
"Pure quality spoken word... the set pieces are the star turns: poems like ‘Keep Going,’ and ‘Burn’ (the latter of which caused a fist fight at a Glasgow open mic night, apparently) are utterly engaging... Tear up your ticket to see the next stand up comedian, and go and see him instead."
Andrew C. Ferguson's Virtual Free Fringe
"Goddamn glorious... A Wu-Tang of Scottish spoken word... Each night is an opportunity to catch one of Scotland’s top spoken word performers alone on a stage but part of something bigger."
The Skinny
"A gripping journey from drowning in bleakness, to learning to swim in it... Will make you think... Gripping and thought-provoking... [A] killer, eye-opening show... An hour inside the mind of Bram E. Gieben is an intense place indeed... Urgently human... Powerful... Stretching the genre... Nihilistic socioeconomic doom... Simultaneously uplifting and depressing..."
Audience reviews from Twitter
"Foot stomping and raucous cheering are the order of the day."
- The National Newspaper
"Diverse and engaging... looks really interesting!"
- TVBomb Fringe Picks 2015
"Immediate and contemporary."
- Bella Caledonia Fringe Picks 2015
"A brilliant idea... if you’re in Edinburgh for a week, go every day."
- Kieran Hurley, playwright & theatre-maker
EARLIER PRESS FOR TEXTURE
"Filthy wordsmith legend... Bram is the gaffer."
- Louie, Hector Bizerk
"A true poet."
- Darren 'Loki' McGarvey
"Paints a picture of the Orwellian modern world that we live in, one of constant surveillance,
the police state and the looming threats of financial collapse."
- Мишка
"Drips with despair and nihilism."
- Reykjavik Sex Farm
"Likeably spiky."
- scotsman.com
"Channelling the fractured energy of 'Generation Y'... exceptionally inventive."
- ThreeWeeks (on Chemical Poets)
"Recommended."
- Gareth K. Vile, The List
"Filthy wordsmith legend... Bram is the gaffer."
- Louie, Hector Bizerk
"A true poet."
- Darren 'Loki' McGarvey
"Paints a picture of the Orwellian modern world that we live in, one of constant surveillance,
the police state and the looming threats of financial collapse."
- Мишка
"Drips with despair and nihilism."
- Reykjavik Sex Farm
"Likeably spiky."
- scotsman.com
"Channelling the fractured energy of 'Generation Y'... exceptionally inventive."
- ThreeWeeks (on Chemical Poets)
"Recommended."
- Gareth K. Vile, The List