Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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‘It’s a brigade of old gits!’ Miriam Margolyes, Andy Linden and the older performers storming Edinburgh

At a festival so often dominated by bold young talent, it’s veteran performers stealing the spotlight this year. We meet them – from household names to octogenarian newcomersMiriam Margolyes is ensconced in the garden room of a fancy Edinburgh hotel, f…

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Luke McQueen: Comedian’s Comedian review – lord of mischief gatecrashes the popular podcast

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghThe tricksy standup uses AI to create his own episode of the long-running interview series on which he’s never been invitedThe Comedian’s Comedian podcast, in which comic Stuart Goldsmith interviews one standup per episode, has…

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‘TikTok is like an old-school variety show’: what’s behind the surprising boom in ventriloquism?

The 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…

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Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People review – ‘best joke of the fringe’ winner serves up silliness

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe character comic returns with another daft set of surreal characters and sharp one-liners – this time stuck in an open-all-hours cafeWhen Lorna Rose Treen won the best joke of the fringe award two years ago with a cheet…

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When Billy Met Alasdair review – two Scottish giants happily collide

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh Alan Bissett embodies both the expansive Big Yin and the detached author of Lanark in a thoughtful, entertaining search for their connectionThere is a scene in Alasdair Gray’s landmark novel Lanar…

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Every Brilliant Thing review – Lenny Henry gets audience on board for list of life’s joys

@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…

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Wodehouse in Wonderland review – less than spiffing portrait of the artist as a light comedian

Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh Robert Daws stars as the great comic author in this one-man show but is let down by lukewarm humourRobert Daws has lots of previous form on PG Wodehouse: he has played in various Jeeves and Woosters through the…

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‘Casually jaw-dropping’: at an Edinburgh fringe of tricks and treats, Ben Hart has the magic touch

The 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…

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