‘It felt like a scene from The Handmaid’s Tale’: US comics on the dangers of political satire

As Jena Friedman, Michelle Wolf and Sam Jay perform at the fringe, they discuss the threats to freedom of speech in the era of Donald Trump In April, comedian Jena Friedman had a strange encounter in Vancouver airport. She had just performed a Ted talk…

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Body Count review – dark laughs in a tale of Bonnie Blue-style sexual extremes

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIssy Knowles considers the phenomenon of sex as a competitive sport with a portrait of a fictional OnlyFans star and her balaclava-clad followers‘I would love you to rearrange my insides.” It’s a shocking line that would s…

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Body Count review – dark laughs in a tale of Bonnie Blue-style sexual extremes

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIssy Knowles considers the phenomenon of sex as a competitive sport with a portrait of a fictional OnlyFans star and her balaclava-clad followers‘I would love you to rearrange my insides.” It’s a shocking line that would s…

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Bella Hull: Doctors Hate Her review – beautifully wrought comedy on having your sanity questioned

The Hive, Monkey Barrel, EdinburghIn a precise performance, Hull delivers sharp punchlines, surreal diversions and a dose of the occultExactly how fine was the “fine” relationship at the heart of Bella Hull’s show? She greets us with a fixed, manic smi…

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Bella Hull: Doctors Hate Her review – beautifully wrought comedy on having your sanity questioned

The Hive, Monkey Barrel, EdinburghIn a precise performance, Hull delivers sharp punchlines, surreal diversions and a dose of the occultExactly how fine was the “fine” relationship at the heart of Bella Hull’s show? She greets us with a fixed, manic smi…

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Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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Tim Key: Loganberry review – blissfully funny set from a standup in total control

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghKey’s command of his style, seemingly up in arms about being called middle-aged, is an expert game of cat-and-mouseIt’s rich of Tim Key, his agent tells him, playing the underdog “when you’re lighting up cinemas with Carey…

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‘It’s a brigade of old gits!’ Miriam Margolyes, Andy Linden and the older performers storming Edinburgh

At a festival so often dominated by bold young talent, it’s veteran performers stealing the spotlight this year. We meet them – from household names to octogenarian newcomersMiriam Margolyes is ensconced in the garden room of a fancy Edinburgh hotel, f…

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Luke McQueen: Comedian’s Comedian review – lord of mischief gatecrashes the popular podcast

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghThe tricksy standup uses AI to create his own episode of the long-running interview series on which he’s never been invitedThe Comedian’s Comedian podcast, in which comic Stuart Goldsmith interviews one standup per episode, has…

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