Edinburgh Festival Fringe

All the world’s a stage

15 Sep 2008

Merchant City Festival (25-28 Sep) www.merchantcityfestival.com Located in the heart of old Glasgow, this event locates a programme of film, theatre, comedy, visual arts, street theatre, live music, food and fashion within an area of real…

Fringe ticket sales drop

4 Sep 2008

The Fringe took a double knock last week when figures revealed ticket sales were down by almost 10% this year - the first fall in eight years. Competition from the Olympics, box office problems and bad weather were all noted as factors. Fringe director…

Unseen China

edfest.tv - video

1 Sep 2008

600 documentary photographs taken by 250 Chinese photographers, reflecting daily life in China against the background of modernisation, radical cultural upheaval and urban economic boom over 50 years

Kerieva

edfest.tv - video

1 Sep 2008

Scottish-based Romani musician and singer Kerieva provides a deliciously mesmerizing blend of Gypsy jazz, ska, rhumba, cabaret and traditional sounds

Fringe Hangover: Bad Comedy

Adam Fraser's festival blog

29 Aug 2008

It seems appropriate to muse, just as the last drinks of August are being cleared up and that bloody gormless purple cow is being packed up again for another year, on the latest visitor to the party. Taking to the stage in Chambers Street’s Jazz Bar on…

One Small Step

edfest.tv - video

28 Aug 2008

Check your oxygen, adjust your spacesuit and buckle up for the biggest mission of your life…. to the moon.

Edinburgh Fringe director resigns

Jon Morgan steps down following troubled year for festival

28 Aug 2008

The director of the Edinburgh Fringe is to step down after just over one year in the post.

Matt Kirshen

edfest.tv - video

28 Aug 2008

Last year Matt went to America and got a bit famous. Don't miss his triumphant return to obscurity.

Soweto Gospel Choir

edfest.tv - video

28 Aug 2008

The Soweto Gospel Choir was formed to celebrate the unique and inspirational power of African Gospel music.

Guy Masterson

edfest.tv - video

28 Aug 2008

Guy Masterson provides an insight into the exiting world of theatre.

P.I.E.

edfest.tv - video

28 Aug 2008

I was working on a case… because I didn't have a desk. There was a tap on the window… that's a funny place to put a tap.

The 30 Year Itch

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

A stand-up show about growing up, moving on, flaring up and flaking out!

The English Gents

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

One of the highlights from 'La Clique', The English Gents demonstrate their impressive acrobatic feats of strength and endurance.

Richard Mackney's edfest.tv show

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

Mackney waffles on awards with the likes of Bruce Dessau, Arnold Brown, Tom Wrigglesworth, Tom Allen, Jenny Éclair, Steve Hall and Scott Capurro before presenting the first ever edfest.tv Performers' Award - quite literally the coolest prize in town…

Kiddy-Fiddler on the Roof

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

At Townsville Comprehensive, teacher Arnold Finkler is falsely accused of molestation and chased by an enraged mob of parents.

Scavengers

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

100 clues. Nine hours. Register a team and set out in search of fame, glory and £2,000 cash.

Richard Mackney's edfest.tv show

edfest.tv - video

27 Aug 2008

Arnold Brown, Scott Capurro, Will & Greg, Tom Wrigglesworth, Paul Tonkinson, Dara O'Briain and the Wau Wau Sisters all risk the chair this week. It's just as arse-licking as Parkie but for a fraction of the cost.

Arirang Party

Mighty percussion and dance

27 Aug 2008

Arirang Party turns the volume up to a level that would definitely disturb the neighbours. It’s a shame that much of the mighty din comes from a recorded soundtrack, albeit an often beautiful and curvaceous one that emits Andean and Celtic vibes.

Eye to the future at the end of the line for Edinburgh Festival 2008

Alan Bissett's festival blog

27 Aug 2008

Ah, the end of the Fringe. Goodbye rain. Goodbye bright-eyed young hopefuls thrusting flyers. Goodbye posh accents. How was it for you? Depending on who you talk to, plays this year have been too bleak/political/teenage. Given the gloomy political…

Terry Saunders

26 Aug 2008

In the dank bowels of the ghost-ridden Baby Belly 3, where it rains indoors no matter what it’s doing outside (though, let's face it, chances are it’ll be raining there too), two shows from likeably nervy individuals addressed obsessions with varying…

Weights

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

1978: a gunshot in a gritty LA bar. A life changed forever. Lynn Manning's poetic, musical, mesmerising, pulverising 2007 hit returns.

Back to the Future: The Pantomime

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

'1.21 gigawatts? But Marty… the only thing that can generate that amount of electricity is… a pantomime!'

Shoppers Without Borders

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

When an East Londoner meets a West Coast American they discover that when it comes to debt, marriage is about learning to share.

Call Me If You Feel Too Happy

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

Bipolar is a buzzword in celebrity chic, but what if you're not on the A-List?

Torn Out Pages

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

With her pants round her ankles and about to lose her virginity at the grand old age of 39, Elaine Reid has a flashback.

Tom and Sal

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

…want to be Richard and Judy. Not helped by their incapable production team, lack of guests and features.

David Benson

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

David Benson, who first rose to fame following his debut show about Kenneth Williams, returns to the role of Noel Coward whom he portrayed in the BBC series Goodnight Sweetheart.

Fringe hangover: Where have you been?

Adam Fraser's festival blog

26 Aug 2008

That’s it. The Fringe is over. At this point, the hard-working critic, performer, theatre-goer or box office drone might wish to find a darkened room, take a moment to collect their thoughts and let the adrenalin settle, and unpick the events of the…

Barry Cryer

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

Welcome back the Sanatogen snorting comedy legend Cryer and his multi-talented musical carer Ronnie Golden.

Ruby Wax

edfest.tv - video

26 Aug 2008

Ruby Wax talks about the BBC's initiative 'Headroom' to encourage the public to look after their mental health.

Omid Djalili

26 Aug 2008

No one can really deny the lofty position that Omid Djalili now occupies in the British comedy world. Having begun in the Fringe wastelands a decade ago, he can pop by to do a week here fresh from a BBC1 Saturday night show deemed so successful by the…

Telling stories while we can at The Edinburgh Book Festival

Alan Bissett's festival blog

26 Aug 2008

Today's theme is stories! The ones we tell about ourselves, our past, our bodies. What prompted this was The Fooligan at the Pleasance, a one-man show from the Arches' artist in residence, Al Seed. Al waddles onto the stage, an obese, grotesque medieval…

Richard Sandling

Format war rant full of comedic gems

22 Aug 2008

In the dank bowels of the ghost-ridden Baby Belly 3, where it rains indoors no matter what it’s doing outside (though, let's face it, chances are it’ll be raining there too), two shows from likeably nervy individuals addressed obsessions with varying…

The Hollywood Outlaw Comedy Tour

Not a killer in the house

22 Aug 2008

You know things have gone badly wrong when comics are blaming the audience for the icy atmosphere at a gig. In this instance it was each and every one of the four stand-ups who comprise the Hollywood Outlaw Comedy gang who in their own individual way…

Sir Barrington Ganch

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Britain's quirkiest theatrical relic celebrates his farewell to the acting profession.

Bully

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

'Bully' is a gripping tour de verse about one man's struggle against a life of violence and oppression.

Limmy's Show

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Internet phenomenon Limmy presents his unique mix of imaginary scenarios, daft videos and a rundown of his top five hates.

School of Comedy

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Last year's sell out sensation is back with a brand new sketch show for adults performed by 12 to 16 year olds.

Noche Flamenca

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Soledad Barrio stars with Spain's leading flamenco ensemble, Noche Flamenca.

I Am Nesia

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Frustrated science graduate embarks on an investigation into the human memory, but can't help being distracted by playing games.

The Third Condiment

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Dave is courted by media moguls and fair trade activists, but who's saving the world and who's just saving?

Best shows for kids

edfest.tv - video

22 Aug 2008

Hear about the fun at this year's Festival including a low down on The Animal Olympics, The Gruffalo, Potted Pirates and The Amazing Bubble Man.

Richard Mackney's edfest.tv show

edfest.tv - video

21 Aug 2008

More Mackney fun with Nicholas Parsons, Mike McShane, Isy Suttie, Neil Delamere, Alex Horne and Ian Stone.

Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray

Thoroughly modern Oscar

21 Aug 2008

Although no one would bat an eyelid today, Oscar Wilde’s gothic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray caused shock and outrage when it was published in 1890. The tale of an impressionable young man who becomes obsessed with his own image, had a little too…

Janey Godley

Family tale from straight-talking Glaswegian

21 Aug 2008

The title of this show, Domestic Godley, doesn’t refer to the cooking, cleaning, dinner parties ‘domestic goddess’ stereotype. Janey Godley’s candid stand-up is specific to her east end of Glasgow upbringing and subsequently eventful life. With a…

Koko the Crocodile

A little touch of Africa

21 Aug 2008

Mara Menzies is fairly new to the storytelling game, but has taken to it like a duck to water. Or rather, like a crocodile to a riverbank – much like the wriggling, paw-waving one that appears in her charming new show. Based on Menzies’ recently…

Kristen Schaal & Kurt Braunohler

Schaal and pal delve into surreal corners

21 Aug 2008

A warning is gently dispatched: Double Down Hearts will break our minds. Co-written in reverse chronological order by Kristen Schaal, of Flight of the Conchords fame, and Kurt Braunohler, her ‘gift’ of a comedy partner, the play pastiches the melodrama…

Michael McIntyre

The accent is on over-familiarity

21 Aug 2008

Last year, Michael McIntyre apparently harangued two judges on the if.comedy panel for doing this nation the great disservice of not handing him the award on a plate. Still, he could at least reassure himself of his genius with all those flattering star…

Scott Capurro

A mix of the inspired and the obnoxious

21 Aug 2008

It’s been said that the older people get, the less worried they are about causing offence. Scott Capurro, veteran of some 15 Fringe summers, has clearly decided to go for broke this year, trampling all over every sacred cow and totem of political…

Scottish Dance Theatre

Two very different displays of talent

21 Aug 2008

It’s not bombastic patriotism to suggest that some of the most accomplished and satisfying contemporary dance on the Fringe is homegrown. These two works performed by Scottish Dance Theatre are an excellent showcase for the jaw-dropping versatility of…

5 Questions - John Wheeler

21 Aug 2008

What five words best describe your stand-up show? Only the truth is funny. Which comics should be more famous than they are now? Just Jamie Kilstein. Here is a man that is not only funny but also likes ale. Can you tell me one strange thing…

5 Questions: Dance

21 Aug 2008

David WW Johnstone, artistic director of Edinburgh-based experimental arts unit talks about his new show, Aurora Borealis, and why you should be heading to Dance Base to see it What 5 things/people inspire you most in your work? Japanese…

66a Church Road

21 Aug 2008

Sitting amid an array of suitcases as if he has been thrown out onto the street, Daniel Kitson creates a tragicomic riff on his old flat. At first the imaginative conceit successfully taps into the sentimentality people invest in their homes, but the…

7 Sins

21 Aug 2008

Limelight-loving, fabulous and about as butch as Dorothy's dog Toto, San Francisco comedian James Judd's fate was inevitable from the day his mum paid him to act out soaps she'd missed. In a breathless hour, with quick Martini stops, he acts out…

About Benson & Hill

21 Aug 2008

This likeable double act play tag, so you get Geordie comic Luke Benson's audience-based improvisations and clever wordplay followed by his Leicestershire counterpart Martin Hill's observations about everyday life laced with surreal…

Achtung Pal

21 Aug 2008

Twelve hopeful students chew, gag and gurn their way through a barrage of German and 'Schottish' accents in this dreary 1943-Nazi-occupied-Dundee-set comedy. Sparky performances from the stinky Scottish gypsy prostitute and an officer's secretary are…

Aeneas Faversham Forever

Dreadfuls give us a daring, playful and epic tale

21 Aug 2008

A trio of Victorian gentlemen humourists, the Penny Dreadfuls bring you the visually resplendent, aurally pleasurable Aeneas Faversham Forever, one of this year’s most scrumptious and comically edifying Fringe treats. Something shadily undefined yet…

Ahir Shah & Alex Maple

Raw talents in unfettered mayhem

21 Aug 2008

A few years back, a show entitled It’s a Shambles won the Perrier Best Newcomer award. If that moniker hadn’t already been snapped up, it could so easily have applied to this ramshackle affair. And yet, rather than making this an hour of difficult…

Air Alba

A celebration of Scotland’s contribution to world cuisine through song, story and music

21 Aug 2008

As the small audience shuffled in out of the early evening drizzle, raconteur Nancy Nicholson and guitarist Tony Mitchell happily greeted the audience, spinning yarns before most had even taken their seats. This friendly welcome set the tone for an hour…

Ali Cook

21 Aug 2008

He chews razor blades, crushes doves and gets journalists up on stage to help him perform tricks: Ali Cook simply has no fear. With a pleasing mix of cheesy/sinister, there is happily little that is A Touch of Vegas as he demolishes mobile phones…

And On Your Left… Ruth Bratt

Memorably madcap bunch of characters

21 Aug 2008

It’s been a mixed bag of a Fringe for female character comics, but Ruth Bratt’s collection of mad hatters certainly puts her in the top bracket. Set up as a road trip around the sites of Edinburgh, the show introduces a tour guide who is a mixture of…

And the Devil May Drag You Under

21 Aug 2008

Diabolical cabaret in which the audience must vote each act into Heaven or Hell based on the purity of said act's soul. Host and hostess the Devil and Miss Mephisto are satanically delightful with their songs and skits, but some of the acts (which range…

Andrew O’Neill

A history lesson with bizarre wordplay

21 Aug 2008

With his whimsical garb and gothic make-up, Andrew O’Neill resembles an Edwardian punk, a juxtaposition that extends to a strange little set rife with absurdity. Presented as a mock history lesson about British industry replete with the now-ubiquitous…

Andrew Stanley

21 Aug 2008

Being whimsically funny seems to be part of the Irish birth right and Stanley is another example of an act who is adept at managing a crowd and building up a sweat as his shaggy hair matches the tales he unfurls. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 668 1633…

Another Kind of Silence

Enviromentalist writer brought to compelling life

21 Aug 2008

If the environmental movement in the US has a progenitor and figurehead it is marine biologist and nature writer Rachel Carson. Her writing and research in the late 1950s/early 1960s brought attention to the then unfashionable issue of conservation…

Another Side of the Mirror

21 Aug 2008

Lynn Ruth Miller returns to the Fringe to perform another chapter in her fascinating life. Now nearly 75 years old, she presents her memories to us with joy and candour. From anecdotes about her Romanian grandmother to her long battles with illness…

Arthur Smith’s Arturart

Artistic venture with knob gags

21 Aug 2008

Winner of last year’s Spirit of the Fringe if.comeddie award, Arthur Smith’s Arturart returns with another explosion of what its creator describes humbly as a ‘vanity project’. Situated at 15 Queen Street, the fiftysomething stand-up veteran’s…

Bad Dog Variety

Oddball creations lacking in bite

21 Aug 2008

A show presented in the form of the worst cabaret show you could have the misfortunate to see has plenty of potential, but something just doesn’t quite gel with Bad Dog Variety. Our two German hosts Christian and Barnard (all the way from Antwerp? The…

Badly Ranted Thoughts Via the Magic of Song

A cult alternative to stand-up-by-numbers

21 Aug 2008

Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds is a crowd divider of a man. One half remains stony-faced, mentally working out what else they could have spent that tenner on, and the other ends up laughing slightly hysterically at his brand of freak or unique comedy. Wearing…

Barbershopera

21 Aug 2008

There a couple of pre-requisites for attending Barbershopera: an appreciation of musical comedy and a passion for a cappella are essential. A penchant for false facial hair is helpful. That said, Toni & The Guys put on an almost seamlessly tight show…

Beautiful People (Don't Travel Economy)

21 Aug 2008

Any airline comedy with a bitchy hostess at its helm is always going to draw parallels with Pam Ann. The larger than life (thanks to a fat suit) Alexis Van Airbust certainly isn't as slick and the gags are somewhat familiar but nevertheless Robert…

Behind The Mirror

Bizarre love triangle

21 Aug 2008

At first, Ad Infinitum’s infectious romp plays out like a physical theatre version of The Odd Couple, the buffoonish protagonist embarking on a slapstick turf war with his demonic reflection, who has escaped from his rightful side of the mirror. The…

Blue on Blue

21 Aug 2008

The subject of Afghan ambushes is pushed into the realm of cliché in this three-hander. Suffering after a possible friendly-fire incident, an American servicewoman shacks up with a Mujahedin rebel. An engaging performance from Arran Shanti fail to…

Camerata Ritmata

Guitar virtuoso-fronted ensemble experiment in jazz, classical and world

21 Aug 2008

A short bus ride heading eastwards and in no time at all the crowds ease as the coastal community of Musselburgh comes in sight with its handy bus stop just outside the honest toun’s Brunton Hall. Appearing here with special guest singer, Daisy Chute of…

Candide

21 Aug 2008

Despite a lively performance from Prentis Hancock as Voltaire, this one-man production fails to catch fire. The biting satire that makes the story so riveting simply doesn't emerge from behind the dialogue-heavy script, and the colourful characters…

Carl Donnelly & John Robins

21 Aug 2008

Two chaps with bright futures amble along amiably with their separate stand-up sections, linked by an amusing satisfied drinking sound, fashioning out little urban observations and memories of childhood. Clearly, this has no bearing on the star rating…

Carol Leifer

A Fringe debut to forget

21 Aug 2008

Of course, it’s daft to generalise, but when heavily-anticipated American stars have come across to the Fringe they’ve either blown us away or totally bombed. In the happy former camp are Demetri Martin, Kristen Schaal and Doug Stanhope. In the…

Chris Cox

21 Aug 2008

An amiable young man, Cox makes behavioural predictions about his audience by reading their body language, using neuro-linguistic programming and sometimes just peeking when his eyes are supposed to be closed. Frequent mistakes and bad guesses make this…

Craig Campbell

21 Aug 2008

A one-man play that deserves an audience of less, there is probably a clever, poignant story here. It's just very well-hidden behind the screaming, swearing and unimaginative sexual euphemisms - and who can ever tire of simulated masturbation or crazed…

Dan Atkinson

21 Aug 2008

Not sure whether Atkinson woke up in a bad mood that afternoon or whether he'd simply left his mojo elsewhere, but this hour of moaning about having been left behind by his friends and whingeing about having moved to London kicks off promisingly but all…

Dan March

Stuffy MySpace dramedy

21 Aug 2008

Social networking may rear its fashionable head in this one-man comic play from Dan March, but it’s the more timeless topic of fatherhood that’s really up for appraisal. It is, ostensibly, a true story. March, a struggling actor, really did have a…

Dancing on your Grave

Songs in the key of death

21 Aug 2008

Dancing on your Grave indulges in gothic vaudeville: an hour of songs about death, sung by ghostly clowns pursuing a most pessimistic vision. After an hour, however, the monomania starts to wear thin. Apart from the odd reflection on lives ill-lived or…

Deca Dance 2008

21 Aug 2008

Whenever you read about Batsheva Dance Company, a few key words come up time and again; adjectives like ‘exuberant’, ‘joyful’ and ‘energetic’. This is thanks, in large part, to their choreographer Ohad Naharin. Drawing together short sections from ten…

Edinburgh-on-Sea

Causing a splash on the Fringe

21 Aug 2008

There are performances in campervans and squash courts on the Fringe this year, but a swimming pool is one of the quirkiest venues. Liz Bentley commandeers the pool for a show that includes her own barmy lo-fi poetry and observations on life plus…

Eleanor Tiernan & John F O'Donnell

21 Aug 2008

The premise here - that bumbling, shaking Tiernan can't cope without her American sidekick - unfortunately turns out to be too close to the truth. When O'Donnell is a no-show, Tiernan's jokes about having crap material aren't followed with any real…

Ella, Marilyn, Marlene and Me

21 Aug 2008

This one-woman show tells the story of a thirtysomething songstress who's dying to be the next Australian pop star. While her acting is patchy, Melissa Western's impersonations of Ella Fitzgerald and Marlene Dietrich are spot on, while her natural charm…

Elvis Hates Me!

21 Aug 2008

Philip Stokes' play is set in a mental health ward where two patients believing they are Elvis Presley, are cared for by a disturbed nurse. The piece follows the nurse's fantasy about what she could have been and the world of celebrities. The cast not…

Eric's Tales of the Sea

21 Aug 2008

Eric shares his life working on a submarine, from emergency escape training, through embarrassing onanistic initiation to a strong friendship formed with the submarine prankster. Though Eric's storytelling style could do with a little tightening up…

Etcetera

Weird and wonderful - but what's it all about?

21 Aug 2008

No strings attached (well, not many) in this experimental piece of puppet theatre from avant-garde Polish company K3. Three puppeteers, dressed from neck to ankle in black, animate a series of string-free two-foot tall magnolia-coloured cloth mannequins…

Family

Martial arts and B-boy battles

21 Aug 2008

Head spins. Body spins. Spinning hand stands. Spinning kicks. Spinning on one hand. This energetic show from Korea makes outrageous martial arts and breakdance moves look so effortless that you begin to believe you could do it all yourself.

Fawn

A muddled monologue

21 Aug 2008

While perhaps the simplest form of theatre to stage, the monologue is not the easiest to pull off successfully. Fawn, a fantastical narrative about a girl transported from a forest into a netherworld of alternative realities, never quite rises to the…

Felix Dexter

21 Aug 2008

Affable as Dexter seems, his is another show of thwarted ambition, over-reliance on funny voices and an hour show that clocks in at almost 50 minutes, a somewhat irritating trend that has been all-too prevalent this year. There's nothing lightweight…

Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters

21 Aug 2008

They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…

Fool Koller

Wet feral fun from Dutch pratfaller

21 Aug 2008

The ambit of what has not yet been done shrinks ever smaller. Pity the poor alternative comedians, clutching at auxiliary originalities as the pool of unprecedented material ebbs to nothing: slicker, quicker jokes, more postmodernism, cynicism…

Foreskins Lament

21 Aug 2008

This dodgy production of New Zealand playwright Greg McGee's landmark 1980 play is played out in the locker room of a local rugby club changing room. A couple of really appalling performances and some less than inspired direction derail things. Still at…

Fringe box office crisis to be investigated

21 Aug 2008

As the world's largest arts festival enters its final week, speculation is rife about the outcome of an inquiry into the failure of the Fringe Office's ticketing system. The Festival Fringe Society has ordered an independent inquiry into its own box…

Funny. Twice.

21 Aug 2008

An inoffensive show in a boiling shoebox of a venue, Damion Larkin verbally fondles loneliness and boobies, Jimmy McGhie waxes Londonishly about computer games and holidays. Most refreshing when dissecting their own delivery, Larkin's faux misery and…

FxP2 in Trouble!

21 Aug 2008

The thing with last-gasp chances are that you have got to take them. And thankfully this set of young sketch artists pulls out a ludicrously playful finale (a boy band mime) that saves the day. It's when they are left to their own writing devices that…

Gamarjobat

21 Aug 2008

The playful Japanese pair deftly animate all the trappings of a silent Western, complete with a revenge killing and a big-hearted prostitute. A clever use of shiny happy plastic props and stylishly twee sound effects successfully endow the sex and guns…

Generation Divide

21 Aug 2008

The tensions of the generation gap - lingo, music, gadgets - get a going over in this sporadically funny double-act show. Richard Rycroft is 48 and looks like a Tory minister; Cal Saville is half his age but equally posh, as he's first to admit. They're…