Olga Koch review – break-up sex and getting left on read

Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghFrom relationship recovery to getting her phone messages spoken out by the audience, Koch has charisma and punchlines to burnThe infamous opening notes of Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like a Woman! blast out across Monkey B…

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Seann Walsh review – an eye-opening and bitterly funny show

Stand Comedy Club, EdinburghThe standup delivers a compelling show that reflects on his Strictly Come Dancing notoriety and harsh childhood experiences Many may struggle to sympathise – far less laugh – with “Strictly Come Dancing love rat” Seann Walsh…

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Sikisa review – a sparkling comedy party

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghSikisa Bostwick-Barnes’s ebullience carries her through a debut solo show that’s punctuated with dance breaksYou can see why Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes themed her show around parties – specifically, a house party she threw to …

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Equity union launches working practices charter for comedians

Measures aim to ensure safety, pay transparency and anti-harassment and discrimination policiesThe performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a comedian’s charter in an effort to ensure good working practices and the safety of pe…

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Frankie Thompson review – all the feline feels with a magnetic performer

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghLeaving no cat-related reference unlicked, Thompson’s show is artfully clownish and funnyThe stage is set with a treadmill, yoga mat, step-up box and a big silver exercise ball for Frankie Thompson’s Catts. A suitable asso…

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Troy Hawke review – TikTok’s raffish fop puzzles out modernity

Underbelly Bristo Square, EdinburghMilo McCabe’s matinee-idol character initially feels at odds with his material, but it’s hard not to be won over by his enthusiasmMilo McCabe performed as aristocratic matinee idol Troy Hawke for almost a decade befor…

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Ania Magliano review – skilled off-key laughs from affable rising star

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghA properly fresh take on quarter-century living, Magliano’s is a charismatic debut moving through divorce, sexuality and cat-buying with ease Absolutely No Worries If Not is Ania Magliano’s coming-out show. After an imagin…

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Leo Reich review – uproarious Gen-Z narcissist blazes through

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghReich’s flouncing, self-obsessed comedy is a brittle skewering of irony and anxiety – and a must-seeOne of countless acts this fringe whose Covid-delayed debuts feel long overdue, Leo Reich makes up for lost time in specta…

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I made a name for myself with ‘sex-positive’ comedy. Then I was raped on a night out. Would my openness be used against me?

I’ve never held back when it comes to talking about sex. But after an attack while on holiday in Las Vegas, going to the police didn’t feel like an optionLast November, after a string of relationships with men had gone wrong, I decided to go to Los Ang…

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Tall stories: performers on their wildest Edinburgh moments

Standup in a swimming pool, naked tractor driving, heart attacks, heckles, walkouts, rain and an onstage marriage proposal – as the fringe turns 75, this year’s performers on the memories that make the festival uniqueMark Watson’s first 24-hour show wa…

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