The Crawl review – madcap swimming comedy performed by synchronised duo

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghAlexander Burnett and Ellie Whittaker dive into multiple roles in a bubbly show with plenty of audience participationThis highly physical comedy about two competitive swimmers begins at the beginning – not with a referee’s whis…

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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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Katie Norris: Go West, Old Maid review – unhinged comedy from the ‘cool governess’ to gen Z

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghOddball songs, surreal asides and a glorious persona combine in a show that reflects on the standup’s late fatherSince childhood, Katie Norris has been called an “old soul” – which won’t surprise anyone who saw her solo de…

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Lost Paws review – furry fun as two felines expose their owners’ foibles

theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall, EdinburghThis playful performance explores loneliness, liberty and life in early adulthood through two adventurous cats and their demanding humansEllie Rose Amit and Charlotte Pine’s comedy about cats includes grooming, a spo…

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Ed Night: Your Old Mucker review – a laconic, sharply observed stroll around south London

Monkey Barrel, the Hive, EdinburghThe Edinburgh comedy award nominee ambles through tales of debt, chicken shops and his eccentric grandad in a show that’s loose but brimming with intelligent wit‘If there’s one thing this show doesn’t do, it’s come to …

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Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Friends: Kool Story Bro review – eccentric improv antics

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghFrom a nude life-drawing class to a Colombian kidnapping, with help from his Ghosts co-star Lolly Adefope, Smith-Bynoe uses audience members’ stories to comic effectThe involvement of big-time performers such as Kiell Smit…

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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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As You Like It: A Radical Retelling review – an unbridled howl of rage and resistance

Church Hill theatre, EdinburghA furious and unsettling Shakespeare reboot exposes colonial violence and demands accountability for crimes against Indigenous people‘Aren’t you sorry you forced me to learn English?” If that sounds more like The Tempest’s…

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‘We were the runt of the litter at the BBC’: Johnny Vegas and Graham Duff on resurrecting their sitcom Ideal

The cult 2000s sitcom accrued obsessive fans and celebrity guests before being abruptly cancelled. Now, 20 years on, its star and writer return with a stage revival – but they insist it’s no victory lapDrugs, gangs, kidnappings, police corruption, murd…

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‘We were the runt of the litter at the BBC’: Johnny Vegas and Graham Duff on resurrecting their sitcom Ideal

The cult 2000s sitcom accrued obsessive fans and celebrity guests before being abruptly cancelled. Now, 20 years on, its star and writer return with a stage revival – but they insist it’s no victory lapDrugs, gangs, kidnappings, police corruption, murd…

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