Female comics will confront body dysmorphia by turning the mirror on themselves and then back on societySolo performers on Edinburgh’s fringe are jointly confronting one of the most personally undermining ailments – body dysmorphia. Next weekend a rang…
Continue ReadingAre you a comedian desperate for an audience – and accommodation – during the Edinburgh fringe? This could be your dream gig Name: Breakfast roaster.Age: As yet unborn. Continue reading…
Continue ReadingLooking for rising stars this summer? Try gossipy standup, an end-of-the-pier homage and a ‘gay witch sex cult’Frankie Monroe, the impish proprietor of a working men’s club who has made a Faustian pact to keep his establishment open, is bound to be a b…
Continue ReadingCrowdfunding and finding patrons are among less painful options as cost of performing at the fringe soarsIn the run-up to the Edinburgh festival fringe last year, comedian John Tothill was having “horrific hallucinations of being pulled into hell by th…
Continue ReadingThe comic on her standup heroes, using depression as an inspiration for laughter and stereotypes about northernersHow did you get into comedy?I’d always wanted to do it but was way too self-conscious. Then when I was very depressed, staying on my frien…
Continue ReadingFashion and music from the 90s are with us again – not to mention a Labour landslide. Next month’s Edinburgh fringe will capture the moodAs Labour swept to a landslide win on 4 July to the sound of D:Ream and chants of “Football’s Coming Home” echoing …
Continue ReadingTestosterone-soaked clowning show Furiozo: Man Looking for Trouble spikes fun with fear – but the hooligan’s knife-edge moments of vulnerability lead us somewhere differentClowning is about vulnerability. Hyper-masculinity is about invulnerability. Wha…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonLenoir’s mischievous charm is infectious, and she plays with skill on the heartstrings and funny bonesClowning may be silly, but it is seldom, these days, insubstantial. Paulina Lenoir is performing Puella Eterna as part of the Lond…
Continue ReadingAs a veteran of the festival, Richard Gadd captures the mix of heady promise and bleak reality that awaits another influx of acts this summerNothing prepares you for performing at the Edinburgh festival fringe. It’s the largest arts festival in the wor…
Continue ReadingWith manga circus, a Jaffa Cake musical, silly science and a llama adventure, there is something to entertain audiences of all ages this summerThe jaw-dropping, dreamlike animations of 1927 linger long after the final curtain. Now, the restlessly inven…
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