Pleasance Dome, EdinburghBehind this grab-bag of papier-mache heads and walkies banter lies a celebration of simply talking to one anotherFirst came Ricky Gervais’s cynical cats; now here are Spencer Jones’s optimistic Dogs. One was tawdry, the other c…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Hopping from a PowerPoint on hairlines to songs about favourite motorways, Towelling’s set is fun but drops a stitch or twoThe route from the classroom to the comedy stage is well travelled, and ex-maths teacher Tom Towel…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIn his award-nominated show, the standup ruminates on myth and memory with some lovely observations‘There’s a moment when that ends,” muses Li Jin Hao, “and this begins …” As well as being jam-packed with swoonsome one-lin…
Continue ReadingKing’s theatre, Edinburgh The pranks and pratfalls in Geoff Sobelle’s show mark the US’s 250th anniversary with nihilistic excessThey are a forlorn lot, this bunch who shuffle glumly to the front of the stalls. In white face, funeral veils, mismatched …
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Even one of her own bugs takes the mic as the wild card comedian delivers these disconnected bitsThere’s an excellent joke about art school in Marty Gleeson’s show, but even without it, we might guess that the Irish comic…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWatching a man labouring to strike up conversations in the smoking area of a nightclub proves not just funny but also touching and upliftingEver pretended to use your phone to avoid the shame of being Norman No-Mates at a …
Continue ReadingA shortlist rich in kookiness sees Lara Ricote tipped for the main prize, alongside returning nominees and a new generation of eccentric fringe actsThe shortlist has been announced for the annual Edinburgh comedy award, and it’s a list that majors in w…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh The comedian delivers a tour of his peripatetic childhood, with stops for risque gags and to ponder his resemblance to a ‘porn Super Mario’Comedy fans have seen Sami Abu Wardeh in several guises, from a capering clown cat…
Continue ReadingSummerhall, Edinburgh The comedian brings a calm authority to her tale of a haunted house and digs out maximum horror from a minimal stagingSome shows work their magic on you slowly but Kirsty Mann will have you hooked in under a minute. A thunderous s…
Continue ReadingPleasance Dome, EdinburghThis show about Olesker’s lengthy journey to becoming an Orthodox Jew in order to marry his partner is both elegant and nuanced‘I would do anything for love,” Meat Loaf sang, “but I won’t do that.” Max Olesker would, if his sol…
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