Comedy, Marissa Burgess
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It's Grimm Up North
23 Aug 2012
Animated character grotesquesset in fictional Hardington leave you cold
The first two episodes of this animated series introduce us to a handful of characters - through stories based on fairy tales and fables - who live in the fictional town of Hardington. The animation is distinctive and quirky and the first film in…
Michael Workman - Mercy
23 Aug 2012
A beautiful blend of images, music, storytelling and comedy
This is a truly beautiful little show; a quirky blend of images, music, storytelling and gentle gags combine for a memorable reflection on the importance of speaking up for what you believe in. Workman is the winner of a fair few awards (best comedy at…
Xavier Toby - Binge Thinking
22 Aug 2012
Comedy addressing big ideas let down by whistle-stop rhetoric and poor material
Toby relates the tale of a dinner party with three old male friends held after he returned from travelling. In that time they've all got married and Toby is unimpressed with how they've changed and with their choices in wives. For a while it's seventies…
Thomas Nelstrop - Great(ish) Hits
22 Aug 2012
Fast-paced multi-character stand-up show
Thomas Nelstrop's central conceit is a demanding one: to play every single character in a one man show called In a Field, set at a music festival. He runs about, sometimes playing his guitar, sometimes not and performing a mixture of made up characters…
Shirley and Shirley Unleashed
22 Aug 2012
A sassy and inventive tour de force from the sketch comedy twosome
The opening skit of the latest Shirley adventure features two Edinburgh ladies hunched under an umbrella pondering whether to see the show having heard it's all 'cock' 'fanny' and arsehole' with lots of 'bad accents.' It's true that almost every sketch…
Marcel Lucont: Gallic Symbol
21 Aug 2012
Endless gags in fantastique caricature of a French homme
As we're gathering our belongings to leave a voice in the row behind exclaims, 'he pushes the French thing a bit doesn't he?' Yes, well that's exactly the point. Lucont is the beautifully realised comic creation of Alexis Dubus and is a fantastique…
Katherine Ryan - Nature's Candy
21 Aug 2012
Dark comedy gossip from a disarmingly innocent-looking source
What you look like shouldn’t make any difference in comedy. Funny’s funny whatever the package. However, for Katherine Ryan, being pretty, diminutive, blonde and blue-eyed works rather well when what comes out of her mouth is as acidic as the lemons on…
Jigsaw - Gettin' Jiggy
21 Aug 2012
Top sketch comedy from Dan Antopolski, Nat Luurtsema and Tom Craine
After a successful Fringe debut last year, the troupe return with another offering of what has to be one of the fastest-paced sketch shows about. Some skits last less than a minute before we’re plunged into the next. Stand-ups Dan Antopolski (the…
Bruce Hammers' Bananapocalypse
15 Aug 2012
Gloriously chaotic hour that tumbles through fictitious film legend's career
Relative newcomer Mat Ewins 'stars' as Bruce Hammers, 1980's film legend best known for his seminal work the 1982 film Bananapocalypse. That's about as much as you get that's sensical about this show, it's a gloriously chaotic hour that tumbles through…
Graters: Julian Ignores His Friend and Talks To A Pretty Girl
13 Aug 2012
Ambitious but flawed idea for a sketch show
James wants to be a stand up. Julian calls himself an entertainer and cheerfully ditches his friend to talk to two women in the pub. Played out to the side of this tableau – one that remains on the stage throughout - are Julian's 'crap' ideas that he is…
Owen O'Neill: Struck By Lightning
13 Aug 2012
Evocative monologue that stays with you for sometime after
Yes there's a dry wit in evidence, but comedian O'Neill's latest show sits in the storytelling one-man play camp of his varied oeuvre rather than the stand up. As the lights go up O'Neill springs up out of bed in his jim jams and with a face 'the colour…
Chris Corcoran and Elis James: The Committee Meeting
13 Aug 2012
Not the slickest show of the Fringe but an absolute riot
You can imagine that Elis James and Chris Corcoran's small Welsh village committee meeting probably hinges on how up for it the audience are on any one day. We are the committee members after all. On the day we were in everyone was full of, as they say…
Gearoid Farrelly: Turbulence
13 Aug 2012
Irishman's Edinburgh debut an engaging success
Though he seems a touch nervy at first and genuinely surprised that he has an audience that almost fills the Wee Room at the Gilded Balloon, Farrelly actually has nothing to be worried about. When he hits his stride the slight Irishman from a rough area…
Celia Pacquola: Delayed
11 Aug 2012
A quirksome loveable geekfest
In this, her third solo show at the Fringe, Aussie Celia Pacquola examines whether she has achieved anything in her move to the UK. It’s particularly pertinent as she left behind a long-term boyfriend, and whether they will stay together maintains some…
The Trap: Bad Musical
11 Aug 2012
Comedy group performance almost convincingly good at being awful
It’s tricky doing something so bad that you make it good. But The Trap fellas are seasoned sketch show artistes and so know what they’re doing in creating a ‘bad musical’. Sound cues are routinely missed, there’s plenty of in-fighting and the lead…
Sean Hughes: Life Becomes Noises
11 Aug 2012
Comedy show that shifts seamlessly between pathos and gags
It’s been noted in previous years that there are a lot of dad-dying shows about. But it’s one of those big life events, so why wouldn’t you write a show about it? Sean Hughes’ father died of cancer last year, but what this show certainly isn’t is some…
Jim Jefferies: Fully Functional
10 Aug 2012
Revelatory and raucous stand-up at its most potent
Watching Jim Jefferies at his best is akin to the sensation of wading neck deep into ice cold water and suddenly realising you’ve lost your footing. The sheer audacity of his material and its depths is breathtaking. Given his current personal…
Nick Page: My Glorious Hypothetical Life as a Eunuch
7 Aug 2012
Well-delivered catalogue of misanthropy and bad behaviour
It's lucky for us and a consolation for Page that he has such a history of being an asshole from which to draw for his stand up material. With a dry, defeated demeanour he tells us that, even after academic failure, three broken marriages and seven…
Graham: Graham Rex
7 Aug 2012
Endearingly matey sketch posse with great potential
This four piece sketch show hold great promise. Despite being Fringe rookies, much of their show is made up of measured, intelligent humour. A few references are a bit 'youth' and when you're old enough to be their mum (a young mum I might add) they can…
The Pauly Show
5 Aug 2012
DIY stage sitcom from Paul F Taylor
Paul F Taylor always dreamed of having his own show just like Jerry Seinfeld/Miranda/Ronnie Corbett – delete according to which is the most relevant to your age group. Unfortunately there's been an absence of interest from TV executives, so Taylor has…
Beasts
5 Aug 2012
Slick, impressive sketch comedy from the first-time posse
Beasts (they look nothing of the sort) are three very smart young men who deliver one of the slickest sketch shows of this year's Fringe. Polo-necked, be-suited and bow-tied in turn, they open up with a po-faced, stylised but nevertheless comedic dance…
Pete Johansson
5 Aug 2012
Bear necessities from crack Canadian
It seems that in Pete Johansson’s Utopian Crack Pipe, there’s less of the crack and more of the bear. The plaudits that have adorned the Canadian since his debut Fringe show was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Newcomer Award in 2009 have once again…
Simon Evans: Friendly Fire
5 Aug 2012
Acidic wit proves a slow-burner
Before the likes of Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle took up the gauntlet, Simon Evans was on the stand-up circuit, gleefully shocking crowds with his outrageously disdainful suggestions. Appearing on stage rather toffed-up and keeping a largely straight…
Catriona Knox: Hellcat
3 Aug 2012
Promising stuff from character comedian
There's nothing quite like character comedy to enable a performer to both worry and interact with their audience. Before we've taken our seats Knox has taken on the role of saviour of mankind, taking note of audience members' names and organising them…
One day in the Life of Lloyd Owen Langford
3 Aug 2012
A (tension-free) Jack Baueresque show
Lloyd Langford’s fourth solo Fringe show at the Fringe is structured around a single day. Well, not a day, just an hour. Told within the space of 60 minutes, he notes this is a bit like Jack Bauer but without the tension. In fact the framework of the…
