Graham Dickson: No One Deserves This More Than You review – dependably funny desperation

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghThe improv star showcases all his charm and skill playing a delusional actor who keeps pausing his show to record self-tapes for superior productions elsewhereFew figures are more dependably funny than the delusional, disappoin…

Continue Reading

A marathon of mirth and stress: comics with chronic health issues on completing Edinburgh fringe

The festival’s relentless pace is demanding for performers, especially with an underlying health condition. Three acts explain how their month has goneAn hour before she was due on stage for the first show of her month-long Edinburgh fringe run, Nina G…

Continue Reading

Amy Gledhill: Make Me Look Fit on the Poster review – bawdy comedy delivered with a blush

Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh This show about body image doesn’t always hold its focus, but Gledhill has a winning mix of northern mockery and good cheer‘I’ve had some good news, I’ve had some prosecco.” Today’s performance finds Amy Gledhill in a ce…

Continue Reading

Abby Wambaugh: The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows review – dotty comedy debut belies a surprise

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghBeyond its larky interactive stunts and impersonations, the standup’s restart-the-show gimmick coheres into an affecting personal story of redemptionThe First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows, Abby Wambaugh titles her fringe debut. I…

Continue Reading

Show Pony review – what happens when the circus says goodbye to you?

Summerhall, EdinburghIn a compelling collaboration with Bryony Kimmings, the German company Still Hungry deconstruct, satirise and celebrate the circusThree women are remembering their introduction to the circus as children. It offered not just a world…

Continue Reading

Chris Cantrill: Easily Swayed review – midlife distress call goes from one big laugh to another

Monkey Barrel @ the Tron, EdinburghOne half of the Delightful Sausage duo undertakes an epic quest with his pals as he deals with middle ageTwentysomethings, there is nothing here for you! So says Chris Cantrill at the start of Easily Swayed, a show hi…

Continue Reading

Olga Koch and Finlay Christie use their privilege as a rich seam of humour | Brian Logan

One standup asks moral questions about her family’s post-Soviet wealth, the other uses a self-satisfied persona to survey his gilded lifestyle. Both strike comedy gold at Edinburgh fringeAt a festival where everyone’s losing money, and some can’t affor…

Continue Reading

Dan Tiernan: Stomp review – can-smashing comic makes you wince and laugh

Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghThe Mancunian’s sophomore fringe set, addressing his diagnosis of gout, is delivered with feral roars and fine one-linersIn these days of intensely autobiographical comedy, acts often rinse their identities, and empty the…

Continue Reading

Essentially Edinburgh: dance, drag and plenty of drama at the 2024 festival – in pictures

Photographer Murdo MacLeod covers Scotland’s annual arts spectacular, from a musical Mexican seance to colourful juggling Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh fringe comedy 2024 week two roundup: I’ve seen 50 shows but am I laughing?

Debuts rich in neurodiversity and self-analysis jostle for attention at this year’s festival with a beloved grandma, the Russian elite and a misguided attempt at an apologyWe’ve reached the halfway point at the Edinburgh fringe, where more than a third…

Continue Reading