Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Fears eased over Festival performer visa crisis

8 May 2008

Fears that thousands of performers at the Edinburgh Festival would be prevented from entering the UK due to new immigration legislation have been eased with the introduction of a new type of visa. The Home Office has announced that visiting…

Just an illusion

1 Aug 2007

Ask most people what they think of magic, and you’re likely to be greeted with snorts of derision. The British public’s perception of stage magic is still recovering from the glitter-festooned nightmare of spinning plates and disappearing rabbits that…

Dizzy Heights

1 Aug 2007

Being a cult figure in a beloved sci-fi sitcom hasn’t harmed Hattie Hayridge’s career. Doug Johnstone catches up with her. Just don’t mention Red Dwarf. Actually, it’s not a problem, mainly because Hattie Hayridge is such a laid-back character. A more…

Abroad appeal

1 Aug 2007

Could this be the year of the European comedian? Brian Donaldson cherry picks some continental comics, both real and made-up

Alex Horne

1 Aug 2007

Alex Horne loves a good concept. From the joys of Latin to the art of communication, he’s done the lot.

Comedy of Errors

1 Aug 2007

Al Pitcher’s show Idiot Wind is based around a rather unfortunate incident involving a woman, an aeroplane and some flatulence. Here, he gives us his top five social faux pas

Different strokes

1 Aug 2007

Having written one of the UK’s finest ever sitcoms, Sean Lock is back pounding the beat on the stand-up stage. Brian Donaldson talks to the man who has finally left bitterness behind

Former Perrier nominee with a comedy campaign

Jimmy Tingle

1 Aug 2007

Last year, US comic Doug Stanhope told The List how he was going to stand for the Libertarian Party in the 2008 Presidential Election.

Girl and Dean

1 Aug 2007

These days everyone wants to use the Fringe as a springboard to fame and fortune. Sketch comedy double act Girl and Dean (aka Jess Ransom and Sarah Dean) may well have their future sorted as they’ll surely be the only Fringe act to be playing the UK…

Glenn Wool

1 Aug 2007

Having missed Glenn Wool in Ireland on a day that he played three gigs and one football match, I eventually track him down to Amsterdam, where he’s spent two days balancing stand-up with the sit-down distractions of beer and ogling Dutch women.

Golden Balls

1 Aug 2007

Mark Dolan’s comedy debut was as a child in front of some drunks. Yet Camilla Pia finds that a love of the audience helps drive him on

Holland sauce

1 Aug 2007

While Germany is still perceived as humourless, its neighbour is rocking with laughter. The Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective tell Brian Donaldson about anal sex, racism and hookers

In rude health

1 Aug 2007

With larger than life characters, Alyssa Kyria’s set was a sleeper hit from 2006. She tells Marissa Burgess that this year’s show is all about getting down and dirty

Nick Doody

1 Aug 2007

Nick Doody’s debut show last year was a deeply passionate affair. Losing his Catholic faith, American politics and scary clown nightmares were all eloquently dissected and the critics lauded it.

Out of Their Box

1 Aug 2007

Think you’ve seen that person before? Then they’re probably off the telly. Brian Donaldson picks five folk going from screen to stage

Phil Nichol

1 Aug 2007

We’ve all got our heroes, and perhaps they provide us with life models. Or perhaps not. Phil Nichol’s new show throws into question the nature of our obsession with celebrity, and other forms of worship we see in contemporary society.

Planet of the Grapes

1 Aug 2007

Whether it’s toffs in Bordeaux or bums at King’s Cross, everyone loves a rich claret. To preview his corking new show, James Dowdeswell brings us the reasons why we should all be quaffing on wine

Psister Psycho

1 Aug 2007

The path to true love never runs smooth, but it’s a bumpier road than usual in unconventional love story Psister Psycho. ‘The eponymous villain is a psychotic arms-dealing lesbian robot nun,’ says Danielle Ward, who last year performed…

Rebel ink

1 Aug 2007

With his first book due out and the premier league of poets joining him at the Fringe, Luke Wright tells Brian Donaldson that the key to more success is having a rapport

Resurrection man

1 Aug 2007

Murray Lachlan Young went from being a poet with a huge record deal to playing imaginary gigs in a barn. Julian Hall discovers how he got his mojo back

Stephen Grant

1 Aug 2007

‘Comedy just pokes at problems, rarely confronts them squarely,’ Woody Allen once said. He didn’t, however, reckon with Stephen Grant whose self-proclaimed mission this August is not only to ‘obliterate untruths and punish inaccuracies’, but to solve…

Will Adamsdale

1 Aug 2007

As befits someone who plays, by his own admission, ‘mad adults wrestling with technology and the modern world’, Will Adamsdale has asked me to read the press release for his new show back to him.

Edinburgh Fringe names new boss

Edinburgh Fringe names new director

26 Mar 2007

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has named Jon Morgan (pictured), executive producer with Contact Theatre in Manchester, as its new director, following the resignation of Paul Gudgin earlier this year.

Gudgin steps down as Fringe director

30 Jan 2007

Edinburgh Fringe director Paul Gudgin has announced that he is to leave the post in June. Gudgin, who has held the post for eight years, led the annual celebration of theatre, comedy, music and dance to its most successful year in 2006, with ticket…