Emma Lennox

Tiani Ghosh

Deeply irritating sketch show

24 Aug 2009

All the humour in this deeply irritating sketch show is constructed in the 'I didn't mean that, I meant this' word play. If Tiani Ghosh and Raph Shirley raise any laughs from the audience, it's because these jokes are so tortured and forced that they…

Marigold

An audible dearth of jokes

24 Aug 2009

The three young members of sketch group Marigold have an unenviable task; entertaining a very small audience in a hot C venue studio at midnight, and they face it with high energy enthusiasm. Yet with their questionable writing skills, and a show full…

Kevin Tomlinson

Laughs and poignant moments

24 Aug 2009

'I'm not sure if this will be comedy or drama,' says Tomlinson as he conjures up another character for his 'seven ages of man' improvisation. As it happens there are both laughs and poignant moments in this theatrical display, although audience…

Phil Kay: London Aye!

The crowd are in hysterics from the start

24 Aug 2009

In many ways, Phil Kay is the spirit of the Fringe. He’s a manic, funny, shambolic, Scottish, hairy hobgoblin of an exhibitionist, and embodies any adjective you care to ascribe to the festival. Witnessing his performance at midnight in amidst the revel…

Seymour Mace and Peter Slater: Sundayland

Fake news, wacky characters and biscuits

23 Aug 2009

Running from an Edinburgh downpour into the warmth of Sundayland is a magical moment. For one hour the baby grand is transformed into a welcoming place of ramshackle characters, physical comedy and biscuits for all. With its hosts Seymour Mace and Peter…

Shappi Khorsandi

Making stand-up look a little bit too easy

21 Aug 2009

The title of Distracted Activist sums up Shappi Khorsandi’s predicament. As one of the few female comedians to get airtime, and an Iranian at that, she should be well versed on all debates that this inevitably enables. Khorsandi is certainly a…

Helen Keen

Underwhelming guide to Arctic survival

20 Aug 2009

It’s not often that a bibliography of research material is handed out to a comedy audience, but this is all part of Helen Keen’s thoughtful show. Keen wants to verify the historic aspects of her Arctic routine, but she has been a little too…

Tobias Hill

Exposing demons through vigorous research

20 Aug 2009

There’s a fascination with secrets in the works of Tobias Hill. His 1999 début novel, Underground, depicts the unseen world beneath the streets of London, and The Cryptographer, from 2003, features a code breaker caught in a futuristic web of lies and…

Evie Wyld - After the Fire, A Still Small Voice

18 Aug 2009

(Jonathan Cape) After the Fire, A Still Small Voice suffers from the same problem as its title; too long and too obscure. Evie Wyld, a graduate from a creative writing Masters in London, sets her début novel in the wide open spaces of her native…

Lloyd Langford

Obvious natural talent

18 Aug 2009

Langford could talk about anything and make it sound quirky and funny. In a nervy style, he rattles through topics such as stag dos, Blackpool nightclubs and his musical tastes with a fluid joke-rate and an intuition on how to work the audience. His…

Lady Garden

Acutely observed characters

18 Aug 2009

With as many as six performers, it’s the sketches that feature all of the talent that makes this performance something special. There are some acutely observed characters and a highlight is Britain’s Next Top Monarch starring five of Henry VIII’s wives.

The Aspidistras

Spreads the laughs a little too thinly

18 Aug 2009

The unusually named Aspidistras are a musical duo who are all about the performance. Maria Hodson is particularly entertaining as the freakish Tim Burton or strutting around as Dan Brown, but overall the show has no cohesion. Too many separate…

Jason Cook: Fear

The Geordie’s honest approach falls short with Fear

14 Aug 2009

Anyone familiar with Jason Cook’s routines knows that he likes to produce heart-warming comedy with an emotional kick. Since 2007’s My Confessions and last year’s Joy, the brutally honest approach has been a refreshing departure in the scene, especially…

Tiffany Stevenson

Promising stand-up debut from the one-time wannabe actress

12 Aug 2009

Stevenson has gone from modelling work to small-time acting but right now her role is as new stand-up hopeful. The London-born comic exudes confidence and has plenty of stories from her more celeb obsessed and ‘vacuous’ days. More impressive is the high…

Yianni Agisilaou: MP3some

Nick Hornby influenced trawl through the soundtrack of romance

12 Aug 2009

Setting the story of past romances to music, Agisilaou is the centre of his own high fidelity. Yet with a one-way conversation about his likes and dislikes, hobbies, friends and family, Mp3some comes across as an idle description of his myspace page.

All That Gomez

Brash bravado and thoughtful theatrics

10 Aug 2009

Marga Gomez is wearing a gold lamé tracksuit top with boots to match, a pair of black-framed glasses and a headscarf. This ensemble is loud, brash and ridiculous but like her comedy, it’s hard not to like. At first Gomez seems hesitant; ‘can I talk…

Mark Thomas

A spontaneous manifesto crafted with perfection

8 Aug 2009

If there is a serious side to comedy, then Mark Thomas is standing at its edge. Over the years, he has used his persona of cheeky scamp to write, rally and demonstrate against global injustices, balancing the sincere imperatives with the bonhomie of his…

Alex and Helen's Radio Nowhere

Footlights duo with Facebook-inspired character tale

24 Jul 2009

Alex and Helen are naive. Their plan to find stardom by broadcasting a radio show to a hamlet of only ten people forms the basis for Alex and Helen’s Radio Nowhere, which, as the writers/performers explain, is off the map in more ways than one. ‘They’re…

CE Morgan - All The Living

19 Mar 2009

RURAL DRAMA Focused on the life of young country girl, Aloma, All the Living is a melancholy depiction of love and family in an oddly timeless and isolated Kentucky farm. CE Morgan’s prose avoids grand descriptions that may befit the epic mountain…

Duncan Sarkies - Two Little Boys

5 Feb 2009

BLACK COMEDY Flight of the Conchords fans will take delight in this dark, twisted and idiotically funny novel from fellow Kiwi Duncan Sarkies, a sometime writer on that show. When the feckless Nige knocks down a Norwegian backpacker, he calls his…

Tobias Hill - The Hidden

8 Jan 2009

MYSTERY DRAMA Uncovering the mystery of Tobias Hill’s new Greek-set novel is as slow and meticulous as the archaeological dig at its centre. Hill revels in detail: historical descriptions of mysterious Sparta, moments from a memory best forgotten…

Jason Cook

13 Nov 2008

Jason Cook is a happy man. Today, he cheerfully tells me, he has purchased a new Xbox game. But Cook has other reasons to feel upbeat; his 2007 début fringe show My Confessions was a critical hit and was successfully followed by a show about happiness…

Gillian Slovo - Black Orchids

13 Nov 2008

Evelyn wishes to be ‘rescued from the boredom of her life’ and it’s in Emil, the beneficiary of a rich Ceylon family, that she finds her non-white knight in shining armour. What seems like an exotic fairy tale in 40s Ceylon, however, is an altogether…

Ziauddin Sardar - Balti Britain

4 Sep 2008

Ziauddin Sardar - Balti Britain (Granta) Balti Britain is a comprehensive and startling exploration into how Britain and India have shaped each other's fates. Ziauddin Sardar, an academic and cultural commentator, admits to his own ignorance of…

Festival Books - Mark Watson

Eco-friendly, my dear Watson

21 Aug 2008

According to Mark Watson, saving the planet would, at the very least, ‘look pretty smart on all our CVs’. With an already sterling comedy résumé, Watson takes on environmentalism in his latest book, Crap at the Environment, which through the author’s…