Edinburgh comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti: ‘Actually, this whole show is a monumental failure!’

The comic was determined to make a blockbuster standup show that didn’t address trans issues. Then she changed her mind – and scooped comedy’s biggest prizeThere’s efficiency, then there’s the process that led to Sam Nicoresti winning the most prestigi…

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Edinburgh comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti: ‘Actually, this whole show is a monumental failure!’

The comic was determined to make a blockbuster standup show that didn’t address trans issues. Then she changed her mind – and scooped comedy’s biggest prizeThere’s efficiency, then there’s the process that led to Sam Nicoresti winning the most prestigi…

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Emmanuel Sonubi: Life After Near Death review – laughs, gasps and blessings

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe Londoner delves into more personal territory in his new show, including the story of his heart failure while on stage several years agoEmmanuel Sonubi has always hidden behind how he looks: beefy, intimidating by choic…

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Sam Nicoresti’s Baby Doomer wins best comedy show award at Edinburgh fringe 2025

Playful set about Nicoresti’s life as a trans woman wins main award, with Ayoade Bamgboye named best newcomerThe Edinburgh comedy award, the annual “Oscar of comedy” given to the best show at the fringe, has been won by Sam Nicoresti for Baby Doomer, w…

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Dan Tiernan: All In review – crude comedy with a big payoff is standup’s best yet

Monkey Barrel, EdinburghThe Mancunian manchild shows wild commitment in a show about dyspraxia, drug use and internalised homophobiaWe say we want men to talk about their mental health, Dan Tiernan has noticed. Is this what we had in mind? The joke is …

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Jokers in the pack: eclectic shortlist revealed for Edinburgh comedy awards 2025

Seven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…

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Jokers in the pack: eclectic shortlist revealed for Edinburgh comedy awards 2025

Seven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…

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Australian breakdancer Raygun is lampooned in a new musical but the Olympics fiasco was no comedy | Lyndsey Winship

Rachael Gunn’s disastrous summer at the Paris Games in 2024 has inspired a silly show about ‘Spraygun’ but its jibes are unfairEveryone can have a bad day at the office. But for most of us, it doesn’t take place in front of millions of viewers at the w…

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Jeezus! review – queer musical’s revelations about love with no limits

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghA Peruvian boy has a sexual awakening in a show about religion, patriarchy and homophobia, featuring sweet and smutty songs with a Latin twistThe image of Jesus has been used by some to shame and subjugate queer people acro…

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House Party review – home truths about gentrification in east London

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghChakira Alin’s buoyant show is shot through with bitterness as she gives a lucid account of Hackney’s transformationIn her solo show about the aftermath of gentrification and austerity, Chakira Alin bemoans the rise of cos…

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