Sam Healy

Johnny Candon

14 Aug 2008

A lean, likeable and sporadically funny show that rises to the challenge set by its timeslot. Dubliner Candon riffs on themes of his adoption, fatherhood and arachnophobia with wit and easy charm. He's one of those sweet-talkers who can say 'fuck' to a…

Jody Kamali

14 Aug 2008

Engaging in concept, Kamali's show is narrated by his key character, Terry the Bristolian handyman. On a backpacking holiday around India, Terry meets an international gallery of fellow travellers, all played (with varying plausibility) by the…

Watson & Oliver

14 Aug 2008

In this vibrant and entertaining sketch act, Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver expose their considerable talents as both writers of intelligent material and character actors with the timing and insight to make it sparkle. The pair sail through their…

Psister Psycho

23 Aug 2007

Violating the first law of comedy musicals – that they be intolerable, unfunny bilge – this broad and imperfect light opera is a pleasant surprise. Though the plotting won’t give the fear to David Mamet, nor the music cause Lloyd Webber any sleepless…

Mark Dolan

23 Aug 2007

An irredeemably bland interactive format, in which the audience does most of the creative work, kiboshes the good offices of Dolan’s natural charm. Showgoers write their problems on paper and the comedian riffs weakly on them, but the fatal flaw is…

Rich Hall

23 Aug 2007

It’s difficult even to imagine a Rich Hall performance being less than entertaining. His intelligent, grumpy, pragmatic worldview is broadcast by way of believable absurdities, anarchic situational vignettes and memorable wordplay. A pity he feels the…

Alyssa Kyria

23 Aug 2007

Kyria’s talents as a comic actor are evident in this patchy but entertaining character act. Compered by Ariadne the Greek socialite, the show also features an Australian New Age dimwit, a snooty tennis-playing nymphomaniac and plenty more grotesques.

Adam Bloom

16 Aug 2007

The concept of downtime is unfamiliar to Adam Bloom. After charging onstage and whirling through five minutes or so of funny, friendly, filthy audience interaction, the act proper begins without a wasted nanosecond. Bloom has a sort of sunny fury…

Mark Olver

16 Aug 2007

Olver’s confidence and breezy stage presence have been whetted by his work as a warm-up comic for TV shows, and a good thing too: you need to be pretty self-assured to hold forth on the intricacies of your colonoscopy to strangers. The Bristolian has a…

Tom Stade

16 Aug 2007

A grating stoner persona and a tendency to giggle at and repeat your own punchlines does not the meritorious comedian make. It’s easy to imagine Stade cracking his ‘outrageous’ gags in the next American Pie sequel, ideally aboard a low-rent cruise ship.

Lucy Porter

16 Aug 2007

From the instant Porter bounds onstage, her consummate professionalism is evident. Speedy, precise delivery and uncommonly consistent rhythm explain her popularity. It’s just a pity she still relies exclusively on relationships for material. She has the…

The Walsh Bros

16 Aug 2007

Enjoyable if somewhat underachieving sketch narratives from a likable Boston duo. Topics include clerical abuse, unusual bicycle designs, lethal subway doors and public onanism. Their vibrant conversational approach to storytelling is novel, but an…

Wil Hodgson

Ex-wrestler grapples with mainly excellent materia

9 Aug 2007

Profiles don’t come much more distinctive than Wil Hodgson’s. With a meticulous pink Mohawk, kohl-rimmed eyes and camp/punk cargo trousers, he looks like a Viking berserker crossed with a highlighter pen. To add to this fairly splendid confusion of…

Paul Foot

9 Aug 2007

Dapper, diminutive Paul Foot may not bestride his narrow stage like a Colossus, but he is on superb comedic form this year. With sharp, singular observational material and a newfound confidence in his stagecraft, the potential he showed in the past has…

David O'Doherty

11 Aug 2006

A Festival habitué by now, David O’Doherty is a slow-burner whose expressly ‘low energy’ shows have had him on fizzy water shortlists in the past. While this year’s offering is no wild departure from orthodoxy, it is still a mighty clever, mighty funny…

Terry Alderton

7 Aug 2006

Now this - take note all who go the perilous route of ‘multimedia’ comedy - is how to do it. It could have gone either way after the artsy, expressionistic video intro, but happily for his wide-eyed audience, Terry Alderton has all the pretentiousness…