REVIEWS

MYTH AMERICA

Assembly Rooms (venue 3), 54 George St (0131-226 2428), 10pm; to 2 Sept

"What's wrong with America? Not everyone there thinks like me!" Whenever Will Durst starts to sound too smart-ass, he pulls himself up short. Though he bestrides a map of the US like a colossus, picking out and laughing at pockets of interest, Durst's show reveals him to be a humble peripatetic. There's no grand theory about his native land, unless you count the jigsaw of stupidity he creates from numerous instances of backwater primitivism ("The sun shines in Seattle, the people run about saying, 'Look - big yellow orb' "). Using statistics and media folklore, Durst coaxes you inside the many-roomed mansion of the US. And boy, do you thank him when he lets you out.