Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghAstute, well-built set about suffering and its surprise elimination is charmingly at odds with other festival narrativesWe’ve seen shows about trauma, depression and anxiety. What about a show exploring their blissful absol…
Continue ReadingAs the curtain falls on this year’s fringe, we ask performers and producers how it was for themBy the end of the Edinburgh fringe, anyone who has been here all month will tell you how tired they are. There have been highs – after a tentative return las…
Continue ReadingThe Edinburgh comedy award-winning show Ends is a superb set about Shah’s grandfather, the standup’s imminent wedding and multicultural Britain The cliche about Edinburgh fringe comedy is that, instead of jokes, it’s all tears and dead loved ones. No o…
Continue Reading32-year-old comedian whose set explores race, class and migration becomes first British-Asian to take prizeA show about multiculturalism has won best show at the Edinburgh comedy awards. Ahir Shah, the first British-Asian to win the prestigious award, …
Continue ReadingEdinburgh fringe comics portraying cancelled standups and rightwing politicians talk about the dangers and successes of their satireThe US comedian Martin Urbano has always enjoyed mocking lazy standup jokes – the sort of routines that open with “Anyon…
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghWritten in the shadow of grief and nominated for the Edinburgh comedy award, this barnstorming set takes in race, class and migrationQuite the fringe journey for Ahir Shah this year, who arrived in town with an unready wo…
Continue ReadingJulia Masli, Ahir Shah and Janine Harouni are on the eight-strong shortlist for the coveted £10,000 prize at the festivalA clown-therapy show that takes place in the middle of the night. A hymn to British multiculturalism. And a show at risk of imminen…
Continue ReadingComing-out tales, ventriloquism, a musical set in a public loo and glamorous late-night cabaret are among the festival’s uplifting LGBTQ+ showsNo one ever pays attention when you’re handed a flyer at the fringe. It’s only when I take a proper look that…
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 ReadingWalkout by authors over fossil fuel links plus controversies about identity, racism and sexism are hot topics at politically charged eventWhen Jessica Gaitán Johannesson led a mass walkout at an Edinburgh book festival event last weekend, she told the …
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