Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghSchoolteacher-by-day Tothill’s foppish persona is a delight and his thesis, that hedonism died with the Reformation, is convincingThere are newcomers on the fringe delivering comedy in hand-me-down voices – and then there’…
Continue ReadingPleasance 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 …
Continue ReadingComedian ‘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…
Continue ReadingPleasance 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…
Continue ReadingPhoebe 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…
Continue ReadingtheSpace @ 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…
Continue ReadingBedlam 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…
Continue ReadingAs 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…
Continue ReadingSummerhall, 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…
Continue ReadingPleasance 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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