Episode #507: Garry Starr

Blink and you might’ve missed Damien Warren-Smith’s Netflix debut, making a brief cameo onstage during the Stamptown variety comedy special. But New Yorkers can see all of him in the fall of 2026 as he has made his Off-Broadway debut with Garry Starr: …

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Episode #506: Elf Lyons

Elf Lyons is a British comedian and writer who performs in both the worlds of stand-up and clown, having studied in France with the late Phillippe Goulier. Her 2017 show, Swan, received a nomination for Best Show at the Edinburgh Fringe, while her 2024…

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Underground Monk Show review – hysterical visions enrobed in mystery

Assembly George Square Gardens, EdinburghFour clowns stir up a strange stew of ideas about faith in this playful and highly physical comedy‘Anyone ever been born before?” That’s a rare bid for relatable crowd work in this buzzy, bizarre hour by a bunch…

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Clown Show review – after 250 years, the American dream explodes over one anarchic night

King’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 …

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Camping trips, grief and embarrassing your kids – the fringe shows embracing every facet of fatherhood

Edinburgh comedies by Whisper Theatre, Lightning Rod Special and Olaf Falafel are exploring what it’s like to be a dad, from the hilarious and melancholic to the devastatingly accurate cringeIn a historic masonic lodge in Edinburgh’s New Town I find my…

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Frankie Thompson: Horrible Things review – a show to make you shudder with laughter

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghFrom Jacob Rees-Mogg as a child to Frank Sinatra’s ego in space, this is a wild collage of clowning and performance artThere are plenty of works-in-progress on the fringe. Frankie Thompson insists (or has the voice of Pepp…

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Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It review – Xhloe and Natasha create a monster hit

Summerhall, EdinburghWith physical and vocal agility, the tricksy clown duo trigger an avalanche of misinformation in this feverish treatHere is a show every bit as breathless as its title, stoked by bursts of high-energy 90s chart hits and delivered j…

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“Elf Lyons is The Woman on The Edge” at Edinburgh Fringe 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ For all of the talk in American entertainment about the emergence of the Los Angeles clown scene, few in L.A. or anywhere else are taking clown to the heights and across genres quite like the British comedian El…

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Maya Ricote: “Ay Am!” at Edinburgh Fringe 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What could’ve remained a simple sight gag has evolved into a powerful, personal and punchy clown musical. What a pleasant surprise! What genius choices Maya Ricote has made, turning this caricature into a …

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Titclown: Daddy’s Little Girl review – a smart swipe at the mess made by men

Summerhall, EdinburghJessica Aszkenasy rages and wrestles with daddy issues in a show that combines feminist analysis with outrageous humour and tendernessAfter the 2025 debut of her breast-forward stage persona Titclown, Jessica Aszkenasy’s second gru…

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