Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Well-tuned performances help along a familiar set of laughs as a rickety library gets a new manager and an inspectionThe sign says Plumstanton Library but this could be The Brittas Empire’s Whitbury New Town Leisure Centr…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghFrom Jacob Rees-Mogg as a child to Frank Sinatra’s ego in space, this is a wild collage of clowning and performance artThere are plenty of works-in-progress on the fringe. Frankie Thompson insists (or has the voice of Pepp…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghAre they besties, housemates or more than that? Lara Ciulli and Riana White keep the audience guessing in a gripping hour of comedyFifteen years ago in this room, I remember the thrill of encountering Lizzie and Sarah Dayk…
Continue ReadingA succubus, a cycling champ and Sir Elton Scone walk into a bar … and our photographer Murdo MacLeod was there to capture every momentAll our Edinburgh festival reviews Continue reading…
Continue ReadingPleasance Dome, EdinburghSmart, slapstick and silly, this chaotic multicharacter comedy sends up the Pre-Raphaelite BrotherhoodSome of the most revered works of art across history feature women as their primary focus. But though they might appear as fa…
Continue ReadingFrom Taiwanese steampunk dance to Australian climate comedy, here are 13 quick-fire fringe reviewsAll our Edinburgh festival reviewsFor new perspective on the strange ways we behave, we all know the thought experiment “if a visitor from space arrived o…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghMelissa Firlit recreates Dirty Dancing in a one-woman show that mixes trivia, personal memories and a singalongDirty Dancing was the first VHS in our house: snazzy purple box, pure 80s brushstroke title, alluring 15 certifi…
Continue ReadingPitlochry Festival theatreIain Heggie’s rejigged 2001 play – now ensconced in the world of voice notes and vapes – is very funny, but the lighter moments jar with some sobering subtextsThese days, shows about care homes, dementia and end of life are ve…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThis fantastic comic play from the Radio 4 trio unleashes a torrent of great gags and illusionsHorror pastiche has a proud lineage at this festival – for example Garth Marenghi, and Andrew Doherty’s hit Gay Witch Sex Cult …
Continue ReadingFrom a cake-baking Elton John to possibly the most horrible man in the world, comedians reveal how they get in character – and how far they can push thingsIn the Covid lockdowns, I was drawing all these silly things, and one day I drew Elton John as a …
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