Greetings from Edinburgh, where a cheeky tour guide makes art history hilarious
For anyone who grew up staring blankly at museum artwork, this is the fun that was missing: Coco leads interactive and (mostly) factual art history comedy tours.
Growing up, I had a knack for getting distracted on school field trips to museums and art galleries.
Teachers marched us through halls of what felt like the same Baroque painting over and over. Endless soft bodies painted against pale blue skies, their stories offered up with little explanation.
It didn't feel like any of it was meant to be fun.
Then I discovered Coco, the self-described "time-traveling tart."
The brainchild and alter ego of comedian Max Norman, Coco — 6 foot 7 without heels — leads interactive and (mostly) factual tours through galleries in London and beyond.
During the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last month, she made her way to the National Galleries of Scotland for what was billed as a "cheeky romp" uncovering the "gossip, glamour and glorious absurdity hiding behind the art."