Martin Urbano: Apology Comeback Tour review – queasy comedy brings aghast laughter

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe conceit in the comic’s fringe debut is that his sleazebag persona has been #MeTooed and returns with a barrage of bad-taste jokes “Too dark and weird for mainstream success”? That’s how Martin Urbano describes himself …

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Lorna Rose Treen’s ‘stupid joke’ named funniest of the fringe

Comedian ‘blooming chuffed’ as she becomes the second woman to win the award in its 14 yearsA one-liner described by its author as “stupid” has topped the poll for best joke of the Edinburgh fringe.Lorna Rose Treen was voted winner of the annual compet…

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Laura Ramoso: Frances review – TikTok star’s full-bodied commitment to joking

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghRamoso delivers an irresistible show featuring dozens of characters in sketches, improv and a comic playSketch is usually a team game – and you could believe there’s a team of comedians at work generating Laura Ramoso’s Frances…

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‘We’ve had one Fleabag. We can’t have another’ – has the legendary Edinburgh hit become a curse?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s uncouth one-woman show is seen as the epitome of festival success. But 10 years on, we speak to three fringe performers battling to escape its long shadowTen years ago, Phoebe Waller-Bridge perched on a stool and delivered a line…

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Until Death review – brief encounters with mortality and Marilyn Merlot

theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, EdinburghNalini Sharma makes an engaging fringe debut, using clowning skills and audience participation in a show inspired by her hospital stay“What’s your favourite phallus?” asks performance artist Sophia Cleary in her fring…

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Terrence the T-Rex review – dino entertainers lock horns

Bedlam theatre, EdinburghIn this comic two-hander, uptight Terrence is hawking a prehistoric children’s show when he’s forced into collaborating with upfront Tri-Sarah-TopsIs the Edinburgh fringe big enough for rival comedy shows about warring children…

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‘I’ll never be rich’: Edinburgh fringe standups consider the cost of living – and comedy

As the expense of performing and watching shows at the fringe is ever rising, three comedians ask their audiences to reassess what they place value onMoney is changing hands during a number of Edinburgh festival performances this year, and not just whe…

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James Rowland: Piece of Work review – an affecting account of fathers, sons and Shakespeare

Summerhall, EdinburghRowland’s beautifully crafted show considers his, and our, little lives in the context of the Bard’s wordsContent warning: the next hour, James Rowland tells us, may contain traces of Shakespeare. The clue is in his title but shoul…

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Nabil Abdulrashid: The Purple Pill review – BGT finalist is the funny man at the crossroads

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghAbdulrashid is emerging as one of comedy’s most honest chroniclers of life’s complexities and contradictionsThere are few acts in Edinburgh right now quite like Nabil Abdulrashid – perhaps because he avoided the fringe (pa…

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Kiran Deol: Joysuck review – survival, victimhood and justice explored

Gilded Balloon, EdinburghThe physical assault Deol underwent in the US informs a set that comes alive when the audience join her search for agencyWho wouldn’t want to hold the fate of those who’ve wronged them in their hands? The American justice syste…

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