Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThis relentlessly upbeat call to relish life’s little boons was an awardwinner at Melbourne’s comedy festival and is a fun hourMisery loves comedy, they say. But recent years have seen a rise in standup that flouts that id…
Continue ReadingThe Studio, EdinburghGeoff Sobelle is firmly in control of this clever show full of tricks, but it doesn’t really feed the soulA gigantic banqueting table dominates the room, with members of the audience seated around it. A formidable chandelier shimme…
Continue ReadingTraverse, EdinburghLaurie Motherwell’s avoidance of cliche is commendable, but it does leave this tale of a get-rich-quick scheme with little sense of jeopardyPlaywright Laurie Motherwell is sensitive about stereotypes. In a comedy about two working-cl…
Continue ReadingAfter routines about orgies from the perspective of an ‘awkward English twit’, the comedian returns with an unironic and open account of carnal pleasureIt is nearly midnight at a packed theatre in Edinburgh, and Simon Amstell is inviting questions at t…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe comedian rebrands as angry for her second show, but it’s her likable comic persona that proves irresistibleNot the least achievement of Chloe Petts’ debut show Transience was that it waded into the most heated debate o…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghUS comedians Anne Gregory and Rebekka Johnson front a satire of girl bossing, with guest acts including the British pop starIt’s a bit of one thing and a bit of the other, this spoof corporate-retreat comedy from a stellar …
Continue ReadingTraverse, EdinburghIsobel McArthur’s gag-filled farce takes place in a bland modern hotel with a previous life as an opera houseEarly in Isobel McArthur’s head-spinning new comedy, there is a gag about the uniformity of hotel decor. The joke is plain t…
Continue ReadingOnce I performed to thousands; now I tell jokes to 50 people in a basement, but leaving my dream role felt like freedom, not quittingWhen you have an experience that’s elevated to the level of “magical”, there’s a sense that people don’t want to hear w…
Continue ReadingAssembly Hall, EdinburghIs the fringe veteran stretching himself? No, but his laconic style is deceptive: he’s never less than beadily alertMight knob gags be defended on the basis of cultural inclusion? Frank Skinner claims they were the primary means…
Continue ReadingPerforming at the Edinburgh festival is hugely stressful, but the things I learned there have been useful offstage tooIf the beginning of September still makes me think I need a new notebook and pencil case, the beginning of August makes me think I sho…
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