Emma Lennox

Nude

Non-gratuitous meanderings for art’s sake

21 Aug 2008

Don’t worry, there is no gratuitous nudity in Nude, just two actors flexing and posing their naked bodies in close proximity to the front row. But it’s all done in the name of art, and the context of a life drawing class, in which the reluctant audience…

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…

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…

Rick Shapiro

Not pretty but very punchy

7 Aug 2008

Rick Shapiro is introduced as a man 'fighting himself', but for tonight's performance it's the theatre tech who is taking most of the comedian's acerbic blows. Trying to sync up highly designed video graphics with Shapiro's meandering mind is an…

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…

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…

Hils Barker

Fanciful but flaccid exhibitionism

21 Aug 2008

Sinister social network sites are under precision attack in Hils Barker’s character exposé Exhibitionist! which links four lonely souls to ‘Profile Me’, an invention more Orwellian than Facebook. Barker attempts to draw parallels between billionaire…

Will & Greg

A lesson in chemistry from ex-Ugly Kids

14 Aug 2008

As the audience enters the sweaty room, Will and Greg are enthusiastically cycling on exercise bikes. It sets the pace for a fast and furious sketch show which is clever, bizarre and, like its title, deceptively simple. Will Andrews and Greg McHugh are…

Chris Cleave - The Other Hand

14 Aug 2008

SOCIAL DRAMA (Sceptre) After the success of his 2005 debut novel The Incendiary, Chris Cleave turns his attention from terrorist attacks to the equally provocative issue of immigration. Written as a first person narrative, The Other Hand describes the…

Danielle Ward

Pacy set that's both clever and funny

7 Aug 2008

'We haven't even flirted with the line yet' warns Danielle Ward as one joke gets a hesitant reaction. She isn't lying; the rest of Ward's material, all rapidly told, invokes death by decapitation, the sex drive of a Siamese twin and some depressing…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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.

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…

Learn to Play the Ukulele in Under an Hour

21 Aug 2008

'The ukulele is the cure for depression', claim Sam and Donal, your specialist historians and ukulele instructors for the day. With a Dave Gorman-style slideshow of whimsical adventure, it's the audience members that create the soundtrack with provided…

The Worst Zoo in Britain

21 Aug 2008

This suffers the quandary of being an interesting tale, told by an uninteresting storyteller. Welsh stand-up, Tudur Owen, describes in painfully slow detail how his family came to be the first and last zoo keepers on the island of Anglesey. Owen has…

Jason John Whitehead

21 Aug 2008

The laid-back Whitehead, defined by his rock apparel and sleepy eyes claims to have worked hard over this year's show: 'it's got a theme; it's about being a comedian.' This is typical of the Canadian's easy-going style and enjoyable performance, but…

Why We Ate Cliff Richard

21 Aug 2008

A two-hander disaster story, this is a frantic set which at best resembles the shouty, anarchic energy of The Young Ones, but ultimately fails because of poor writing and uninventive plotting. Hank Marvin's flashy riffs hold things together and a…

Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective

14 Aug 2008

If you were to ask the audience why they were laughing hysterically at Hans Teeuwen, they probably couldn't tell you. This is because Teeuwen's humour is so stupidly bizarre, so darkly deadpan, so poetically distasteful, with a Kaufmanesque quality, a…

Who Writes This Crap?

14 Aug 2008

Poets Luke Wright and Joel Stickley are in love with the English language; which is why they are so apoplectically enraged by its daily misuse. By rewriting all the ironic advertising, spam emails and glossy mag headlines read in one day, they find…

Ladies in Waiting

Getting Brownie points for this show

7 Aug 2008

Anyone who has broken their childhood promise to 'do their best' will find this show pleasingly subversive. The Brownie leader, Brown Owl, starts the show with a finger pressed to her pursed lips and the audience is told to be 'quiet as mice'. The…

Ziauddin Sardar

Seeking to redefine British multiculturalism

7 Aug 2008

‘The immense diversity of British Asians even surprised me,’ admits author and journalist Ziauddin Sardar, who has spent the last three years investigating the many identities of Asians in this country. Named after the fabricated ‘Indian’ dish which…

Mick Sergeant

7 Aug 2008

Sergeant is a man backed into a corner, both on stage and in his life as a divorced, unemployed shipbuilder from Newcastle. Despite this he makes an excellent motivational speaker, uplifting the audience with tales of depression and brimming with bitter…

Jeff Green

7 Aug 2008

Green has the pleasant vocal tones of a traditional English whinger; he's recently been married and increased his family size, but what he really wants to talk about is caravan holidays and petty foibles of British middle-aged life. Some of the material…

Sammy J

The rude puppet show that blew Oz away roasts everything in its path

31 Jul 2008

‘If you put Disney, Les Mis and Queen in a blender, it might sound a little like our show,’ explains Sammy J, the delicately framed Antipodean whose puppet show Forest of Dreams is hoping to charm Edinburgh audiences. ‘That said,’ he continues, ‘the…

Johnny Candon

Dublin comic finds his theme with a personal story free of sentiment

31 Jul 2008

At last year’s Fringe, Johnny Candon was dancing around in a bear costume for Tony Law’s Revenge of the Dog of Time, but for many years the Dublin-born stand-up has been successfully gigging all over the world. Candon has been a background name in the…

Shopping & trucking - The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

When a show is dubbed as a cross between Desperate Housewives and South Park, it’s going to get noticed. Emma Lennox hears some trash talk from those behind The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Mark Watson - Crap at the Environment

5 Jun 2008

POLITICAL COMEDY (Hodder & Stoughton) When reducing your carbon footprint, the first thing to do is admit that you’re crap at the environment. This is according to stand-up comedian, writer, TV personality and one-man iceberg melter Mark Watson, who…

Doug Johnstone - The Ossians

13 Mar 2008

ROCK’N’ROLL DRAMA (Viking) Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll is the old cliché but Doug Johnstone gives it new definition in this young-indie-band-on-the-road fictional travelogue. Naming themselves after an invented Scottish mythmaker, The Ossians have high…

Bernhard Schlink - Homecoming

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

31 Jan 2008

A scrap of pulp fiction marks the beginning of a life-long journey for Peter Debauer in this personal account of a fatherless boy in postwar Germany. The fiction, which describes a soldier’s return, has mysterious parallels with Debauer’s own life and…

Oliver Sacks - Musicophilia

29 Nov 2007

MUSIC ANALYSIS Musicophilia (Picador) Listening to music is something most of us take for granted; millions of commuters can’t even go on a bus ride without hundreds of songs in their pockets, but what’s really happening when we lodge those…

Joel Stickley and Luke Wright

18 Oct 2007

‘It’s nice to get an opportunity to stick the knife in,’ says Luke Wright whose latest project aims to show that metaphorical blades are more powerful than the sword, especially when accompanied by a satirist’s pen. Targeting the questionable writing…

Andrew O'Neill

23 Aug 2007

Is Andrew O’Neill rock or folk? He has the heavy metal chains but he also has long hair and black framed glasses. He has a V-shaped guitar, but it’s acoustic instead of electric. More importantly, is this a comedy show or surrealist theatre? The answer…