A 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…
Continue ReadingThe standup has been the host of the panel show Mock the Week for more than two decades. As it returns to UK screens, he discusses its years as a macho bear pit, the dearth of jokes about Brexit – and why it’s important to punch upDara Ó Briain is stil…
Continue ReadingSummerhall, Edinburgh An endurance test for a standup already starring in a fringe hit, this show resurrects the man who drilled the first ever cross-Channel swimmer‘Who are these people that do what [the rest of us] cannot?” Adam Riches’ solo play The…
Continue ReadingEgyptian-American comedian has been criticised for jokes and commentary about Israel and PalestineThe Egyptian-American comedian Bassem Youssef has announced his imminent Australian tour has been postponed after he was asked to provide background check…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThis motormouth Australian comic fires off tart remarks and home truths then explains why she over-identifies with the Titanic‘No hugging, no learning” was the writers’ rule on Seinfeld. Jess Fuchs decrees a similar strict…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWith icky and edgy jokes, the comedian offers an authentic inquiry into her childhood in her sophomore showA standup’s debut show usually tells us who they are, then with their follow-up, they branch out. Kemah Bob has don…
Continue ReadingEdinburgh 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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