Comedy and Jonny Ensall

GFF 2012 - Opening Gala: Your Sister's Sister

Mumblecore director Lynn Shelton introduces her latest film at the opening of the Glasgow Film Fest

17 Feb 2012

Director Lynn Shelton was at the Glasgow Film Theatre last night to introduce her opening gala feature, Your Sister's Sister. She seemed ecstatically happy to be there, hugging co-director Allison Gardner ahead of the screening. Then, after the usual…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

Tim Key interview: the poet discusses Edinburgh, Alan Partridge and 'sexy baths'

Comedy Award winner brings his Masterslut show to the 2011 Fringe

21 Sep 2011

The List has just presented Tim Key with two pages of facts about himself. ‘This is a very good piece of research,’ he says, commending the 16-year-old work experience person who compiled them. ‘I didn’t get to do anything like this on work experience.

Rory Sheridan's Tales of the Antarctica

David O’Doherty in very funny piece that risks becoming one-note in tone

30 Aug 2011

Rory Sheridan is a lovesick man, who inadvertently ends up on an Antarctic expedition to win his bride. Sheridan is no Scott or Shackleton, he complains too much for a start – about the penguins, about the cabbage he has to eat, about the farts that…

David O'Doherty is Looking Up

Immaculate content delivered with furious enthusiasm

19 Aug 2011

David O’Doherty used to work in a German sausage factory. This might sound like a crass comedy set-up, but it is in fact true. His role was to drive a giant Hoover designed to suck up the smashed, sausage-filled jars that tumbled off the conveyer belts.

The Pajama Men

Both brilliantly silly and brilliantly clever

19 Aug 2011

In The Middle of No One is one of the most inventive, thoughtful and well-performed comedy shows on the Fringe, a whisker away from five-star glory, let down only by a slight lack of energy on the night of the performance. This, however, is…

Josie Long: The Future Is Another Place

Stand up for the left

19 Aug 2011

Josie Long is ready to rubbish a stock right-wing idea when a heckler interrupts. ‘Hear hear!’ the grumbler shouts back at the suggestion that a cleaner shouldn’t have to pay tax towards funding liberal arts degrees. Long looks shocked, uttering…

Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD

Funny and heart-wrenching show on Disney films and painful break-ups

16 Aug 2011

There are two themes in Tuck’s show: straight to DVD Disney films and severely painful break-ups. The connection isn’t immediately apparent, but Tuck’s brave finale combines both strands with some genuinely dark humour, while simultaneously his stage…

The Horne Section

Toe-tapping jazz-and-comedy combo from Alex Horne and friends

15 Aug 2011

Imagine how much funnier you could be if you had your own backing band to play along to your jokes; sing back your best one-liners; hit drum fills after your punchlines... Such is the set-up that three top acts are treated to c/o Alex Horne’s ensemble.

Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall)

Following a dangerous tourist trail

12 Aug 2011

The problem with political comedy is that, in sharing a joke with a person simultaneously making a serious point, you can easily become confused about what it is you’re signing up for. Added to this, Mark Thomas has an enviable rhetorical tool at his…

Lounge Room Confabulators

Aussie troubadours paying home visits

11 Aug 2011

‘Hello! It’s the Lounge Room Confabulators.’ A voice chimes cheerily through the intercom. The Confabulators – a pair of bearded Australians in Del Monte suits who will be performing an hour-long storytelling show in my home – ascend the stairwell…

Nathan Dean Williams

Twisted pick ‘n’ mix

8 Aug 2011

A clown accidentally sending a child into anaphylactic shock. A bullied teacher forcing chocolate cake into the mouth of a sex doll he calls ‘mummy’. A put-upon husband dressing up like Velma from Scooby Doo to meet the demands of his dominatrix wife.

Lounge Room Confabulators perform 2011 Fringe show in your home

Edinburgh Festival Fringe duo bring their cabaret show to your house

20 Jul 2011

Lounge Room Confabulators have hit on a wonderful idea in performing their show only in punters’ homes. List editor Jonny Ensall invites them to appraise his flat as a performance space

The shocking, rude and offensive highlights of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe

The controversial shows of Edinburgh Fringe 2011

6 Jul 2011

If boundary-pushing comedy is your thing, or if you just like smutty jokes, you’ll no doubt find a suitably impolite act at the Fringe. Jonny Ensall ranks 2011’s controversial shows by their level of offensiveness

The Hot 100 2010 - Mark Millar, Kevin Bridges and Alasdair Gray take top 3 spots

Our annual chart of the people from Scotland being interesting, successful and creative

16 Dec 2010

The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist.

Rich Fulcher

Smutty drag act comes on a little strong

24 Aug 2010

‘A woman with tits’ is how Rich Fulcher introduces his current favourite character creation, Eleanor (The Tour Whore). Spotted first in season three of The Mighty Boosh, this dusky, seductive lady has been recast as a sordid super-groupie, happy to take…

Twonkey’s Cottage

Just plain silly

22 Aug 2010

There’s a lot to love about Paul Vickers and his not-for-kids, kids show. Ambling onstage at midday he launches into the story of Twonkey, a small, limp character perched onstage in front of a model cottage, whose love for acid house he indicates with…

Jimmy McGhie

A set of simple but funny observations

16 Aug 2010

The consumer perversions of iPhone owning, Tesco Metro shopping, gap-year funding middle-class twonks form the meat of McGhie’s show, and if you are such a twonk then you’ll enjoy laughing at your own foibles. Zaire despot Joseph Mobutu features as the…

Luke Toulson

Plenty of bonhomie, but not much els

16 Aug 2010

A sweet show from a decent bloke who’s recently kicked a drink habit features riffs on the perils of bad parenting (in reality, he’s probably a great dad), first dates and teaching geography. There’s not a lot more than good vibes to keep tepid material…

Dr Brown Because

Physical comedy for willing idiots

15 Aug 2010

Watching Dr Brown provides a good opportunity to test the theory that taste moves in circles. Or more specifically that something can become so stupid it will eventually plop back into the realm of bizarre genius. It’s a difficult call to make, but this…

Jack Whitehall

Lacking real substance

11 Aug 2010

Having Robert Pattinson as a classmate has left Jack Whitehall with a chip on his shoulder, though you don’t feel the 22-year-old comic has real enthusiasm for bashing the Twilight star. Similarly, with jokes on swimming lessons and the vagaries of…

Paul Sinha - Extreme Anti-White Vitriol

Handling some hot political spuds

9 Aug 2010

This year Paul Sinha walks the tightrope of political comedy, and just about manages to keep his balance. There are enough outright jokes in this show to keep a bog-standard comedy club audience entertained, but they’re liberally spaced through a set…

Rich Fulcher - From Mighty Boosh to Edinburgh Fringe's greatest groupie

Mighty Boosh star tells the whore truth with 'groupie school' show

16 Jul 2010

Squeezing out of the extra tight safari suit that made him a cult star with The Mighty Boosh, Rich Fulcher is throwing on some slinkier threads to morph into super-groupie Eleanor. Jonny Ensall wonders just how low he/she will go

Monsieur Montpellier: Entertainer Extraordinaire!

Derren Brown he ain’t

24 Aug 2009

In a well-trodden Fringe tradition, Monsieur Montpellier is a cabaret performer who just can’t help getting things wrong. Aided by his show-stealing assistant Le Cabaret, the grand monsieur waxes lyrical about his many life experiences (meeting Bernard…

Men with Bananas

21 Aug 2008

Hairy men Dave (the Chameleon) and Mark (the Bear) have bananas. The bananas are not really necessary, but they're squidgy and look like penises, which is more than enough to qualify them for this endearingly stupid show. The whole thing is carried off…