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…