Marissa Burgess

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…

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

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…

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

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.

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…

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.

Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players

23 Aug 2007

Having visited the Fringe in 2004 and 2005, last year wasn’t quite the same without the Trachtenburgs around, sporting their thrift store chic. There seems to be no real barrier between the onstage and offstage personalities of Jason, Tina Pina and…

Tony Lee

23 Aug 2007

Despite the title’s claim to be ‘aggressive,’ Tony Lee turns out to be a kindly softy suggesting that anyone with mental health problems and those who are very drunk shouldn’t offer themselves up as hypnotist fodder; he’s the one that would get sued.

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…