Marissa Burgess

Steve Gribbin: Laugh at First Sight

A gag-heavy and tack-sharp set

23 Aug 2011

Displaying the skills learnt from 30 years on the circuit, Gribbin’s set is gag-heavy and tack-sharp. He uses the structure of his own comedic journey on which to loosely hang his musical satire with routines on the royal wedding and riots. It’s always…

Hannah Gadsby - Mrs Chuckles

A mistress of the subtle one-liner

23 Aug 2011

Having been talked into doing a bungee jump, Gadsby now knows what her deathbed words will be and they’re a disappointment. Armed with tea and biscuits, Mrs Chuckles is exquisitely delivered. A mistress of the subtle one-liner, she credits the crowd…

Simon Munnery: Hats Off for the 101ers, and Other Material

Fringe institution is ever-innovative

23 Aug 2011

There aren’t many acts that can fill The Stand on a weekday afternoon, but then Munnery is a Fringe institution. Ever-innovative via daft songs, silly props and monologues, absurdist highlights include his punk rock homage to the R101 airship of 1930…

The Quotidian Revue

Interesting, absurdist comedy lacks cofidence

23 Aug 2011

With its database of sneeze counts, Twirl stats and celebration of a multi-storey car park’s midweek solitude, this show swings between the absurd and the beautiful. Where it falls down is in the delivery, with two out of the three performers seeming to…

Olver: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Stand-up show/theatre experience has potential to be brilliant

16 Aug 2011

It’s difficult to tell how much Mark Olver would ordinarily diverge from his script as on this performance there were a series of hitches which he handled with admirable good humour. But should he tighten up this stand-up show/theatre experience it has…

John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil

The comedy duo present the new, adjective-less Behemoth show

15 Aug 2011

It’s no ordinary sketch comedy that we’ve come to expect from the Behemoth pair. Their material is innovative, invested with a delicious sense of the absurd and whilst in places it employs some of the rules of comedy, elsewhere it deliberately bends…

Jason John Whitehead

Turning romantic failure into comedy gold

15 Aug 2011

In 2010, Whitehead was unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend of five years. He’s put the 12 months since to good use with a lot of curling-up in a foetal position and penning this show. Structured around the reasons ladies have broken up with him…

The Gentlemen of Leisure

Lit-loving sketch comedy

15 Aug 2011

Turns out that this show is less about the Death of the Novel and more about why it’s still breathing. It may be an irreverent look at literature but you get the impression that these guys have a genuine love of books. There’s an introduction to Don…

Don’t Trust Salmon

Unfunny surrealism that falls short of Boosh-y aspirations

15 Aug 2011

Pretty much every year at the Fringe there’s a sketch troupe or a stand-up who attempts surreal comedy by simply stringing a series of random words together. The Mighty Boosh and the like may have made it look effortless but there’s an art to it and…

Carl Donnelly 3: Carl Donnelier!

Meandering tales that finally pay off

12 Aug 2011

It’s easy to see why critics and award judges have heaped plaudits on Carl Donnelly. But on this occasion, his easy style of stand-up is muddied somewhat by his inability to stay on topic. In the initial few minutes he becomes preoccupied chatting to…

Sanderson Jones

Pleasingly foppish semi-shambles

8 Aug 2011

This is one of those shows that you’re loathe to have to put a put a star rating on. There’s no telling what’s going to happen on any one night, though you can probably predict some Venn diagrams, a bit of Phil Collins and gleefully bad taste jokes.

Pope Benedict: Bond Villain

Provocative and brilliantly witty hour on religion and economic meltdown

8 Aug 2011

He’s already tackled Jesus: The Guantanamo Years and toured with Eco-Friendly Jihad, and this year Abie Philbin Bowman is still looking at the bigger political landscape with an provocative and brilliantly witty hour drawing parallels between religion…

Run, Deaf Boy, Run!

Engaging, heart-warming tale told with skill from deaf comedian Steve Day

8 Aug 2011

Finding himself in his late 40s, deaf comedian Steve Day was feeling like he was falling apart at the seams, so he responded by deciding to run the London Marathon. Despite the fact that the only thing that defined him as a runner was that he owned a…

Bob Downe: 20 Golden Greats

Lively hour of high camp, but with only a handful of gags

8 Aug 2011

Celebrating his 20th Fringe anniversary, Aussie polyester sensation Downe presents his usual shtick of fine-voiced covers of popular song, high camp, face-pulling and silly dancing interspersed with DVD giveaways and quiz questions. It’s a lively hour…

Indoor Fox Hunting

Some lovely ideas, but tightening up of content and delivery required

8 Aug 2011

There are some lovely ideas to be found here, with several leaps of the imagination and a nicely absurd viewpoint. But stretched out across 50 minutes, the material wears very thin and a tightening up of both content and delivery is required. You…

Zeus’ Pamphlet

Enjoyable show combines familiar with the more inventive

8 Aug 2011

This five-piece sketch troupe isn’t bringing anything spectacularly new to the genre but nevertheless it’s an enjoyable show that’s worth seeing. Where some characters are familiar – rude girls on the back of a bus – there are a few ideas that are more…

Police Academy's human sound effect set for Edinburgh - Michael Winslow interview

2011 Fringe debut from actor best-known for iconic 80s comedies

26 Jul 2011

It’s been 27 years since the first film, yet Michael Winslow is still roundly known as ‘that guy who made the noises in Police Academy.’ Though Police Academy 8 is mooted for next year, he’s unperturbed by the enduring connection to the movie series.

Busybody - Shazia Mirza interview

The comedian discusses being both a busybody and the go-to girl for Islam

26 Jul 2011

As a female Muslim stand-up, Shazia Mirza would often find herself asked to comment on current affairs. Around 9/11 she was quoted left, right and centre but soon tired of being the go-to girl for Islam. ‘I always get people ringing up asking my opinion…

Mark Watson - Eleven

24 Aug 2010

(Simon & Schuster) He only turned thirty in February, yet stand-up comic, radio and TV star Mark Watson is already onto his third novel. Fortunately, such prolific outpourings haven’t dimmed his ideas. With this latest narrative, Watson explores the…

Nick Sun

The most gloriously disconcerting experience you’re likely to see

23 Aug 2010

Sun defies categorisation: firstly he’s Australian of Nepalese extraction but speaks with a north American twang. Then there’s the material; his is easily the most gloriously disconcerting experience you’re likely to see at the Fringe. During the course…

Dead Cat Bounce

Poised to go from cult hit to Minchin-like stardom

23 Aug 2010

Last year they certainly had the rock stylings off pat but this time around they’ve nailed the comedy too. This four-piece from Dublin is the finished article, with songs about running with midgets, one that pokes fun at the cute frontman and a lovely…

Pension Plan

A pleasure to see a middle-aged lady dicking about

23 Aug 2010

Leisa Rea has been feeling a bit glum so she’s gathered together all her life failures in one big show and celebrated them through the medium of dance, song and a series of absurd short films. There are plenty of lovely touches from random victory jigs…

Michael Fabbri

An amiable and engaging storyteller

23 Aug 2010

His show may be called Fabrications but the only apparent untruth in the show is the big lie told by his former best friend that led to Fabbri being chased by investigative journalists. He is an amiable and engaging storyteller and his tales from…

Gordon Southern

An enjoyable hour with a cheeky chap

18 Aug 2010

On the night we popped into Southern’s show, the audience were a touch rowdy. Still it gave him chance to display his well-honed crowd-control skills. Audience pacified and on with the show, one with the theme of borders, inspired by his Australian wife…

Radio Hoohah

Very occasional glimpses of humour

17 Aug 2010

Centred on a defunct radio station peopled by obnoxious presenters and their objectionable guests, MacKenzie and McGuire’s latest offering is a pretty poor effort. The comedy is in turns laboured, random and largely devoid of comic timing as we meet a…

Sarah Bennetto

A thoroughly engaging and charming storyteller

17 Aug 2010

In this heart-warming little show, Aussie Bennetto tells the story of how, as an impoverished stand-up and one-time satellite TV presenter, she found herself invited to Clarence House to have tea with Prince Charles. This may not be the slickest or the…

Gyles Brandreth

Anecdotes of a life in theatre, TV and politics

16 Aug 2010

OK, so we’ll ignore that Brandreth is both a former Tory MP and a wearer of particularly bad jumpers to focus on the fact that this hour of anecdotes of a life in theatre, TV and politics is sharply written and squeezed for laughs. Though inevitably it…

Paul Chowdhry - Not PC

Self-censorship blunts some impact

13 Aug 2010

‘I’ve got more fans than audience members,’ jokes Paul Chowdhry of the ratio of people in the room to cooling devices. ‘You could have one each.’ Granted, it’s not ideal circumstances in which to perform a show but Chowdhry, allowing himself censorship…

Aidan Bishop

Sounds more like he’s 50 than 30

12 Aug 2010

Dublin-based American Bishop presents another charming hour of laid-back stand-up. This year his slant is how technology has changed since he ‘were a lad’. As he acknowledges himself, Bishop sounds more like he’s 50 than 30 but it gives him a chance to…

George Ryegold

A gloriously bleak worldview

11 Aug 2010

They say that doctors have the blackest sense of humour; something to do with all those birth, death and boils in their everyday lives. Comic Toby Williams’ creation Dr George Ryegold epitomises that sentiment. A vision in corduroy, he grumbles to a…

Felix Dexter

Observational stand-up and nicely realised characters

10 Aug 2010

The veteran character comic introduces us to Julius the Nigerian, dispirited at the lack of romance in bump ‘n’ grind R&B, Harlesden wide boy Early D and posh Cotswold bigot Aubrey who ‘sees the point in the working class’. Though there’s nothing…

Edward Aczel

Somehow incredibly funny without even trying

10 Aug 2010

Aczel’s latest show is a hi-energy romp packed with sharp one-liners. Only joking, it’s as low-key and anti-comedy as ever. Reading from his A4 notes, flicking through his badly presented flipchart and barely making eye contact, he reveals all the…

Alex Horne

Clever maths, quantum mechanics and pleasingly lo-fi graphics

10 Aug 2010

This is another of Horne’s endearingly geeky, PowerPoint-assisted shows. There’s some bamboozling clever maths, brief lessons in quantum mechanics and pleasingly lo-fi graphics as Horne outlines his bet with William Hill to achieve a hole in one at golf…

Pete Johannson's - Pete's On Earth

Solid stand-up as it was meant to be

9 Aug 2010

If you were to take a cursory glance at Pete Johansson’s set-list, you’d be forgiven for expecting this 2010 show to be middle-of-the-road stand-up fare. Pete’s on Earth is peppered with gags about the Canadian comic’s drugs of choice, obnoxious…

Sound and Fury - Private Dick

Playful postmodern romp with knob gags

8 Aug 2010

Private Dick, Sound and Fury’s latest Fringe offering, is a postmodern homage to the film noir.

Lesbian Bathhouse

A feminist comic romp

8 Aug 2010

In Helen Eisenbach’s comic piece, actresses turn up for an audition to a sexually charged theatre production, the creation of the heard but never seen Rod Laselle (voiced by Harry Shearer of The Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame). By coincidence, the…

The Real MacGuffins

Deliciously daft sketches

8 Aug 2010

Double act Jim and Dan... no wait, there’s a third member, the put-upon (and aptly named) Matt. And therein lies the dynamic for the threesome’s sketch show.

Andi Osho bring Fringe debut Afroblighty to Edinburgh

Multi-talented comedian has fingers in many pies

29 Jul 2010

We’re hoping that Andi Osho isn’t going to be spotted twiddling her thumbs on the Royal Mile as she’s only performing the one show at the Fringe. Outside of the festival she has her fingers poked in more pie varieties than a Greggs bake. Osho’s a…

The All-Powerful Jimmy McGhie revels in being un-mighty - and long show titles

Having a good old moan about life

27 Jul 2010

The All-Powerful Warrior Who with His Endurance and Inflexible Will to Win Goes from Conquest to Conquest Leaving Fire in His Wake is surely the longest Fringe show title this year. How did Jimmy McGhie get it in the brochure? ‘My title did use up the…

Erin Judge plays Glasgow dates at The Thursday Show

5 Jul 2010

We may speak the same lingo but for American comedians making their first journey over the pond, they’ve got to get the cultural references right or risk dying on their fanny (US for ‘arse’). Ahead of her visit to Scotland, observational stand-up Erin…

Lucy Porter

15 Apr 2010

As a comedian, when you find the funny in something that’s very much of the moment there’s always the risk that at some point you’ll discover it’s either out of date or there’s an unexpected glut of gags on the same subject. Suddenly it doesn’t look so…

The Thick of It's Chris Addison plays Glasgow date

3 Mar 2010

Though these days more likely to be recognised as the perpetually put-upon Olly Reeder from The Thick of It, Chris Addison has actually been a fine stand-up talent for many years. Starting out on the comedy circuit back in 1995 in his home town of…

Daliso Chaponda

The Malawian born comedian offers cultural ponderings in Glasgow

17 Sep 2009

After snuffling around a myriad of shows on the Fringe this year, witnessing Daliso Chaponda was like finding a truffle. One of the few acts playing The Lot on Grassmarket, his hour, Westerners Calm Down: An African’s Perspective, was an intelligent…

Abi Roberts

Not much in the way of comedic writing

24 Aug 2009

There's little doubt that Roberts can sing and her range of styles is wide but there's not much in the way of comedic writing here. Her show whizzes through her life story and along the way she throws out a myriad of impressions of singers with the…

Shirley & Shirley

Can't fault either of the performances

24 Aug 2009

This female duo's sketch offerings are technically, meticulously executed and you can't fault either of the performances. But the material sways from pitch perfect writing to packing little punch plus being a little too reliant on stereotypes for…

Luke Toulson

Frequently unexpected and inventive

24 Aug 2009

It's thoroughly refreshing to see a comic unwilling to pander to his crowd or make them love him, even the reviewer who in a stroke of genius positioned herself in the middle of the front row. Consequently, Toulson's often cruel humour - whether in his…

Dead Cat Bounce

The overall effect is enjoyable

24 Aug 2009

Taking the idea of musical comedy to the extreme, these Irish lads not only perform sketches but are a four-piece band too. It's nicely presented but much of the actual comedy hasn't a lot of substance, instead relying on the music to carry it through.

3 Gaga Heads

All quite barmy

24 Aug 2009

The trio of Japanese nutcases showcase their largely none speaking style of inventive tricks and amusing oddities. There are pink aliens, a rubber glove overture and Godzilla recreated through a red lycra bodysuit and with a little help from two mates.

Matt Kirshen

The height of nonsense from accomplished comic

20 Aug 2009

Though there are themes to be digested here, what you get with Matt Kirshen’s latest show is an hour of solid stand-up. Intelligent, insightful and rammed with gags, it just goes to show how far the lad who still looks like a teenager has gone: ‘29, I…

Jack Mink

A mesmerising spectacle

19 Aug 2009

Blending improvisation with mime, humour with tragedy, this show is entirely what you make of it. Mink in Victorian-style garb and clown make-up welcomes you to his space and presents a series of hypothetical situations that on this occasion included…

Phil and Phill

Toe-curling awkwardness

19 Aug 2009

Phil and Phill are best mates. So much so that they’re planning a double wedding: if they can find some brides. The show’s intention is one of studied discomfort as the pair occupy a far too close relationship for onlookers to witness, but the result is…

Jack Whitehall

A pedestrian set delivered with presence

18 Aug 2009

Given the many competition finals he reached early on in his career and his rapid rise to TV work, the 21-year-old Whitehall’s debut solo show at the Fringe was always going to be weighted with expectation. Watching him perform, it’s easy to see why…

Philberto

Enjoyably silly

18 Aug 2009

The Portuguese reality star is having a few problems with his mute brother, self-esteem issues and anger management. But he’s determined to entertain with a Vanilla Ice rap, Chas ‘n’ Dave tribute to Cockneys and showing his sensitive side in an ode to…

WitTank

Badly in need of a rewrite

18 Aug 2009

No matter how much loud music in between skits you employ and how sharp your suits are, none of that makes up for the fact that the script doesn’t really cut it. There’s some endearing corpsing and the two final sketches aren’t bad but the rest feels…

Clever Peter

Comes together to great effect

18 Aug 2009

The cosy effect is deceptive. Although presented by three fellas in children’s TV-style primary-colour jumpers, Clever Peter ventures (quite literally) below the belt. At first the skits appear patchy, but it quickly becomes apparent that, unlike many…

Daliso Chaponda

An unpreachy hour relating abuse and misery

16 Aug 2009

It’s pretty routine for comedians from elsewhere in the world working on the UK circuit to crack jokes based on the differences between their culture and ours. The vast majority of those acts are from Australia and Canada and, let’s face it, the…

Adam Riches: Rogue Males

A rogue's gallery of male foibles

14 Aug 2009

Despite the rampant commercialisation of the Fringe, it’s still constantly throwing up some hidden gems like Rogue Males. Not that character comedian Adam Riches is any stranger to Edinburgh. His latest show loosely interweaves various characters…

Rob Rouse

Randy dogs stories

11 Aug 2009

In the last year, Rouse has acquired a son Lenny and a dog called Ronnie, who just happens to be the randiest animal in the world. Talk of new babies and puppies could easily be tedious in anyone else’s hands but given Rouse’s crafted turn of phrase and…

Late Night Gimp Fight!

Wrong sketches that feel so right

11 Aug 2009

Though there are a few weaker skits here in a set that is, overall, slickly executed, the boys are by far at their best when they fully embrace (then take from behind) the wrongness. Hitler as a children’s entertainer, two paedos in the park and an…

Simon Feilder and Sy Thomas

Slick and affable comedy from the flatmates

11 Aug 2009

Feilder and Thomas are flatmates. Like the Monkees before them, this provides the basis for much of their show’s humour in Life of Si. Dispersed with short films of the pair on the sofa in their London flat, this is slickly presented and exuding…

Nick Mohammed

A gloriously silly and irreverent show

11 Aug 2009

On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Mohammed pays homage to the only astronauts to have ever reached the moon with Buzz Aldrin played as a salt of the earth Northerner with rheumatic joint pain and a love of dehydrated space food. A…

Nathan Caton

Modern life and race crop up in Caton's Fringe debut

11 Aug 2009

Caton’s Fringe debut is an assured one, news which will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen him on the circuit. Though there are a handful of observations here that are a touch clichéd, he ultimately shines in such routines as anagram racism and…

Ashley Hames

The queasy confessions of a sex reporter

10 Aug 2009

At the top of the show, journalist and TV presenter Ashley Hames (possibly best known as the News Bunny on Live TV!) warns that he’s not a stand-up comedian; certainly his command of the script and PowerPoint presentation is endearingly shambling in…

Dog-Eared Collective

An apocalyptic oddity about The End

10 Aug 2009

Ni-Nightline helpline workers Paul, Jean, Karen and Kimberley apply their C (confidentiality) U (understanding) P (positivity) philosophy to the possibility of the apocalypse occurring in the ensuing hour. And so the four whisk their way through…

Umbrella Birds - Retails of the unexpected

28 Jul 2009

The ladies’ shop changing room is an intimate space, playing witness to bubbling neurosis and provoking many an emotional breakdown. Wobbly bums poke out from behind curtains as women twist and turn in front of the mirror suffering body dysmorphia and…

Elvis McGonagall

The king of poetry in unflattering tartan

28 Jul 2009

Everyone, it seems, has a little bit of Elvis Presley in their town. It could be the ageing impersonator who works the local pubs, the rumours circulating about the bloke who sells battered haddock in the local chippy or, in the case of Dundee, the…

Lady Garden - Women of substance

The all-female sketch collective are back, with potatoes

13 Jul 2009

I‘m sure there will be a load of shit props in this year’s show,’ laughs Jessica Knappett, one sixth of all-female sketch troupe Lady Garden. ‘If there’s one thing we can guarantee, it’s a load of shit props,’ confirms Rose Johnson. ‘Yeah, we’ve got a…

Isma Almas stands-up in burka

A comedy debut informed by family life and experiences of rascism

13 Jul 2009

When Isma Almas first appeared on the northern English comedy circuit she cut a striking figure. Partly because she opened her set wearing a full burka, but also because, as a Muslim woman, her choice of subject matter in poking fun at the religious…

Al Murray

2 Apr 2009

CHARACTER COMEDY As Al Murray’s cabinet of characters expands from just the one well-developed incarnation as the Pub Landlord to a whole myriad of personae in his current ITV1 series Al Murray’s Multiple Personality, he notes that he never really…

Alex Horne

5 Mar 2009

STAND-UP ‘Oh that’s a very strange bird,’ exclaims Alex Horne looking out of the window as he chats to me. ‘Once you start birdwatching, I tell you, any noise you just can’t ignore.’ Horne took up this leisure pursuit in 2006 when he had a bet with…

Sarah Millican

2 Oct 2008

STAND-UP The last time The List had a chat with Geordie Sarah Millican she was looking forward to, but a little apprehensive about, taking her debut show to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was obvious she was going to do well though, and she went home with…

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…

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…

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…

John Hegley

21 Aug 2008

Hegley strides the stage like a sexy English teacher berating an audience of children and adults alike and urging us to join in at key points. Hegley doesn't disappoint with a show (loosely) working through the alphabet and employing animal themes as…

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…

Limmy's Show

21 Aug 2008

Limmy presents a trademark show of stand-up and internet tinkering with video messages from some oddball acquaintances, the dissection of an ad for fish fingers and some gay porn featuring Coronation Street's Betty. There are some great ideas here and…

Jollie

21 Aug 2008

Two Durham Revue fellas John and Ollie whose names slot together so well they form another word entirely, also form a tightly written and intelligently thought out double act. The inevitable friction between the pair - sharing a girlfriend and John's…

The Balloon Debate

21 Aug 2008

Less of a debate and more of a meander as friends Gary and Dan are thrown together on a hot air balloon trip with a somewhat haphazard pilot when Gary's girlfriend fails to turn up. Cue much fretting about his relationship from Gary, an exasperated…

Wilson Dixon

Ride into a world of deadpannery

14 Aug 2008

Country and western star Wilson Dixon returns to the festival from his native Cripple Creek with songs from albums such as his debut, entitled Greatest Hits, and the subsequent Introducing Wilson Dixon. It's a mellow way to spend teatime, as he regales…

Steve Hall

The life of a sophisticated loser

14 Aug 2008

One of the main benefits of Steve Hall leaving his We Are Klang pals behind this festival is that his evil sense of humour is free to flourish. Given his father's idea of the correct way to bring up his children, it comes as no surprise. The title of…

Keith Farnan

Turning slaughter into comedy

14 Aug 2008

There have been some odd subjects for comedy shows at the Fringe over the years, but the death penalty has to be one of the more unlikely ones. This show (Cruel and Unusual) came about when Irish comic Keith Farnan studied law and spent a spell in…

Bunny Galore

14 Aug 2008

No-one knows how old aging actress Bunny Galore is, but rumours abound that she was the first Neolithic pin-up. Assisted by her middle European nurse Olga, Galore belts out songs ranging from Patsy Cline to the Divine Comedy, shows us clips of her Acorn…

Bernard O'Shea

14 Aug 2008

Despite the rainy night and damp, undersized audience, O'Shea soldiers on with a show that rails against the confines of society. There are some nice moments and the premise is a good one but it rambles into ennui and the three false endings, though…

Danny Robins

A fabulously feel-good hour

14 Aug 2008

Previously DJ Danny, this year Robins has upped the stakes to stage his own festival and we're all invited. With a little help from health and safety rapper Doc Brown, he shares the importance of eating sensibly by way of a dance mix, performs Gothic…

Mark Allen

14 Aug 2008

After getting himself a cat, Allen decides to explore the relationship between humans and their pets, and finds himself in deeper than expected when he dons a dog suit to attend a party. Plus he's got pictures of cats in hats and goats with scary eyes…

Ed Byrne

A masterclass in venting irritation

14 Aug 2008

The perennial Irish Fringe favourite delivers a masterclass in venting irritation. From an opening gag about a misleading slogan on a pre-pubescent's tracksuit, through pondering his class status, to the tortuous and very expensive wedding preparations…

The Cheese and Pineapple Club

Semi-cylindrical sphere of fun

7 Aug 2008

This charming show sits somewhere between Josie Long and Penny Spubb's with its homemade artwork and quirky qualities. Sarah Campbell and Grainne Maguire are having a party complete with awkward small talk, inappropriate flirting and, of course, cheese…

Rob Deering

Experienced comic avoids making a tit of himself

7 Aug 2008

Some musical comics mask a lack of gags with skill in their chosen instrument. Not Rob Deering. An all rounder, his is a sharp, slick wit and he's deft with the hecklers too; hefty experience on the circuit really shows. Despite the humongous jugs he's…

Gavin Webster

An innovative Viz-fuelled waxing

7 Aug 2008

Comedy Store regular Gavin Webster has decided to structure his Fringe show with an on-screen, computer-operated random topic wheel where he will wax on whatever subject comes up. As it happens, this doesn't constitute the main part of the show nor is…

Liam Mullone

7 Aug 2008

In a series of subtle set pieces, Mullone relates the tale of his robbery by a Vegas stripper, which led him to spend six solitary weeks sleeping in a van in the Nevada desert with only a bag of pork chops and an imaginary psychopath for company. Moving…

Des Clarke

Recalling his first sexual experience

7 Aug 2008

In front of a predominantly Scottish crowd, Glaswegian Clarke effortlessly works his room. Quick with amusing comments on every town in his native land and beyond, he spends the first section of his show getting to know his audience like the consummate…

Richard Herring

7 Aug 2008

This year Herring has (almost) ditched his preoccupation with having reached middle age in favour of focusing on his teen self growing up and carving peepholes in his bedroom wall in Somerset. Herring unfurls a sharp and witty discourse pondering…

The Grandees

7 Aug 2008

This amateurish production tells of Nicodemus' quest to find the magic key to open the Box of Cricks for his barmy grandmother on her 100th birthday. There is little to praise here as sadly the writers seem to think that merely mentioning poo or wee…

Sarah Millican - Credit crunch

31 Jul 2008

Sarah Millican is putting a sad past behind her and profiting from pain. Marissa Burgess pops round for a cuppa and finds that the Geordie comic may not be as dastardly as she wants us to believe

Andrew Lawrence - Sit tight

31 Jul 2008

He may no longer be the stage psychopath with a killer tune and attitude to match, but Andrew Lawrence is still not exactly a cosy act. Marissa Burgess tentatively meets the man behind the growl Andrew Lawrence is a comedian in a state of constant…

Isy Suttie

The homespun revolution continues with Matlock’s character comic

31 Jul 2008

‘It’s called The Suttie Show; I knew I would use that title at some point,’ explains Isy Suttie of the serendipitous naming of her new show.

Daddy fool - Pappy’s Fun Club

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

With the spirit of The Monkees and Monty Python coursing through their comedic veins, sketch troupe Pappy’s Fun Club tell Marissa Burgess that cash worries have fuelled their success

Eyes on the prize - Roy Walker

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Thanks to a fellow game show king, Roy Walker is finally making his Edinburgh debut. Marissa Burgess talks to the man who is hoping to woo the city’s youth

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Russell Kane

28 Feb 2008

Since the age of eight he has written short stories but has never been published ‘The one creative constant I’ve always had is to write fiction. I read that you should get your rejection slips and decorate your room with them. I literally ended up…