Just because a joke works in one country or language doesn’t mean it will in another. Globetrotting standups talk about acts that have bombed – and the changes that saved themWhen Yuriko Kotani moved to the UK, she was confounded by our railway service…
Continue ReadingIt’s a form of comedy that has fallen out of favour with TV, but a trio of fun acts are keeping the sketch flame aliveOne of the pleasures of the fringe is checking in with standups as they first emerge, then break through, then revisit as household na…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghA gang of New Zealand comics and their very special guests become Elvis impersonators, hobbits and chimney sweeps in a fun fringe nightGreat was the excitement on the festival’s opening weekend when Phoebe Waller-Bridge – …
Continue ReadingRoundabout at Summerhall, Edinburgh Sam Ward takes hints from his audience to imagine how their lives could go from here, in a bittersweet contemplation of fateThere is a joke in Waiting for Godot that comes after a rare moment of action. “That passed …
Continue ReadingGilded Balloon, Edinburgh The Bruce Willis action film has had a big impact on superfan Richard Marsh. He retells the story in rhyme, with his finger for a gunRichard Marsh has clearly seen Die Hard more times than he’s had Christmas dinners. He’s here…
Continue ReadingSex, social commentary and Ian McKellan in a dance Hamlet: where else but the first full fringe since 2019, with standouts including Sheeps, Bilal Zafar and ‘a show without actors’Day five of the festival. My friend Ani is stretched out, comatose, on a…
Continue ReadingStand-up comic Red Richardson on his pedigree comedy childhoodDriving Rik Mayall around would be entertaining work for anyone, but for the young Red Richardson, the job he had in his 20s was the continuation of a childhood bond.Mayall, who died suddenl…
Continue ReadingPleasance theatre cancels Scottish comic, saying his material ‘does not align with our values’The Scottish comedian Jerry Sadowitz has had his Edinburgh fringe show cancelled by the venue after complaints from staff and audience members.Sadowitz played…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghMischief Theatre are up to their old tricks as silly slapstick meets telepathy in a send-up of stage mentalismStage mentalism – the world of Derren Brown and David Blaine, with its puffed-up mystique and pretence to danger…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghVictoria Melody uses theatre to unpick the mechanics of the comedy world – with some fascinating discoveries about neurodivergence along the wayVictoria Melody likes to throw herself into things. For previous shows, the pe…
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