All eyes on Auld Reekie: Edinburgh festival 2024 begins – in pictures
Photographer Murdo MacLeod presents his view of the opening week’s shows at Scotland’s annual arts spectacular Continue reading…
Continue ReadingTag: Culture
Rachel Fairburn: Side Eye review – devilish, seven-headed humour
Monkey Barrel, the Hive, Edinburgh The acerbic standup delivers a character-comedy show playing some captivatingly awful yet extremely relatable individualsA scouse woman in a glittery headband roams the crowd as we get settled for Rachel Fairburn’s ne…
Continue ReadingJoe Kent-Walters Is Frankie Monroe: Live!!! review – one hell of a host
Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh The BBC New Comedy award-winner resurrects a cadaver of an idea as a Rotherham working men’s club MC with a devilish twistSubterranean and claustrophobic, Monkey Barrel 2 is the fringe venue where performance can most easily be…
Continue ReadingMain Character Energy review – boudoir cabaret deconstructs Temi Wilkey’s inner celeb
Roundabout @ Summerhall, Edinburgh The writer-performer’s playful show sends up actorly tropes while battling intrusive thoughts that could derail her bid for stardomTemi Wilkey is chasing the spotlight – literally. She scurries to bask in its beam as …
Continue ReadingI Really Do Think This Will Change Your Life review – sharp-witted girlboss satire
Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh A fallen queen bee turns to a social media pyramid scheme in a technological whirlwind of a production, grounded by Emma-Louise Howell’s darkly comic, rhythmic scriptWho wouldn’t be enticed by the idea of getting rich quick? P…
Continue ReadingMhairi Black: Politics Isn’t For Me review – ex-youngest MP trades Commons for comedy therapy
Gilded Balloon at the Museum, EdinburghThe former SNP wunderkind brings her popular touch to the standup stage, pairing irreverent personal stories with a gasp-inducing exposé of Westminster flummeryYou can see why, having quit as an SNP MP after nine …
Continue ReadingRisk, reward and trigger warnings: Edinburgh fringe chief on his ‘balancing act’
Anthony Alderson defends the high cost of tickets and says the big venues are sharing the risk with performers, as this year’s festival opensLondon’s West End has nothing like the joint creative impact of the annual Edinburgh arts festivals, argues Ant…
Continue Reading‘It ends with me crying in a pink cycle helmet’: Edinburgh fringe comics pitch their own Baby Reindeer
With every streaming service now searching for their version of the Netlfix hit, Mark Watson, Lucy Porter, Celya AB and more pitch the TV show of their lives, from real-life origin stories and flights of fancy to, erm, Baby Reindeer10 of the best shows…
Continue ReadingComedy couple Jessie Cave and Alfie Brown: ‘We don’t know how to function as adults’
Their on, then off, then on-again relationship has given the standup couple plenty of material. They discuss oversharing on stage, comedy after cancellation, and explaining monogamy to their four kids10 of the best shows at this year’s Edinburgh fringe…
Continue ReadingFringe benefits: 10 of the best shows to catch at this year’s Edinburgh festival
From ruminations on life, love and being Keir Starmer to dance-theatre unpacking toxic masculinity, here’s our pick of 2024’s ‘Burgh necessitiesEdinburgh fringe comics pitch their own Baby ReindeerRose Matafeo: On and On and On
When Rose Matafeo won…