The festival’s best joke award may have been binned this year, but the one-liners keep coming. Here are our favourites• 10 of the funniest jokes from the 2024 fringeOlaf Falafel: We named our children War and Peace – it’s a long story.Andrew Doherty: A…
Continue ReadingThe once musty old art of voice-throwing is back in vogue on stage and online. Its new hip practitioners – plus 1980s TV mainstay Roger De Courcey – explain why their vocal tricks and errant dummies are wowing audiences againIt is the greatest duet, pe…
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel, EdinburghAmusing vignettes about arrogant consultants and undignified poos keep things light as Phillips documents a harrowing hospital experienceExpectations and reality don’t always align when it comes to childbirth. Lily Phillips (not…
Continue Reading@sohoplace theatre, LondonHenry is the first of a group of star performers taking Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s hit show about depression into the West EndSince its premiere in 2013, Duncan Macmillan’s one-person play about depression has gradua…
Continue ReadingThe sense of wonder never wavers in Hart’s charming ‘best of’ set, a fringe favourite in a year of crowd-pleasing card work, mentalism and a hidden-squirrel routineMagic is addictive. The more you see, the higher the bar rises, but the itch to be astou…
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel, EdinburghTV success hasn’t gone to Smith’s head as he still sweats the small stuff – as well as detailing his attempts to procreateReviewing Ian Smith’s breakout show Crushing two summers ago, I compared the Yorkshireman to Rhod Gilbert,…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Through song and standup, Cohen transforms her 2023 medical emergency into glorious oversharing with this comic triumphEverything was going right for cabaret comic Cat Cohen two years ago: Netflix special under her belt, …
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThis tremendous solo show by Jade Franks uses deep rage and deadpan wit to skewer the ruling classShe has glittery nail extensions and her hair scraped back. On a night out, she is all fluttering eyelashes and enormous gol…
Continue ReadingSummerhall, EdinburghThe actor makes his much anticipated writing debut at the fringe with an adventurous show about homemade pornKevin and Megan are friends who reap the benefits when a one-night stand is accidentally caught on camera. It captures the…
Continue ReadingSummerhall, EdinburghThe actor makes his much anticipated writing debut at the fringe with an adventurous show about homemade pornKevin and Megan are friends who reap the benefits when a one-night stand is accidentally caught on camera. It captures the…
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