The Mash House, EdinburghThe New Jersey comic mines his lineage for laughs in a pensive dispatch from cosa nostra America (or somewhere nearby)The “dead dad” show is a fringe comedy cliche. But the “dead dad who was also a mafioso kingpin” show? Not so…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghMaturity has made the awkward standup more at ease with himself and lent heft and fruitful battle-scarring to his shtickIt’s a feature of standup that comedy watchers, more than adherents of other art forms, can see artist…
Continue ReadingAfter lockdowns kept them out of touch with audiences, standups explain their exhilaration at coming together to raise laughs at Edinburgh fringeThe lights go down signalling the start of the show, but Rob Auton is not on stage. Members of the crowd be…
Continue ReadingGilded Balloon, EdinburghSherman’s show, pitched between anti-comedy, performance art and body horror, leaves no doubt why she’s also known as Sarah SquirmDelightfully weird, says the pre-publicity. I’m not sure that covers it. Sarah Sherman – Long Isl…
Continue ReadingWith research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainersPosey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinburgh fringe, has been flyering for her own show. It’s called I Am…
Continue ReadingWith research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainersPosey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinburgh fringe, has been flyering for her own show. It’s called I Am…
Continue ReadingThe standup on the highs and lows of the Edinburgh fringe, Zoom hecklers and why she doesn’t have heroesWho on the circuit always makes you laugh?I’ve always been impressed by Athena Kugblenu. I was there when she did her first showcase and have follow…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghFrom jokes about men’s waning dominance to a teary anecdote, this show runs through a range of emotions on a post-breakup journeyWanna feel weird? Try star-rating someone’s tears. Not for the first time, Jayde Adams invoke…
Continue ReadingFrom bowel cancer to Parkinson’s and dementia, the Edinburgh fringe is full of jokes about serious illness. What’s in it for the comedians – and their audiences?Standup comedy must have been the furthest thing from Sarah Mills’ mind as she awaited some…
Continue ReadingGilded Balloon, EdinburghIn his debut fringe show OK Zoomer, the 22-year-old comic bounces between optimism and fatalism, delivering gags with a sly twinkleGen Z’ers have every reason to feel old before their time. But should 22-year-old Finlay Christi…
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