From the big stage to a dripping cave and someone’s front room, performers run the gamut from light to darkIt was a sticky, stormy and rain-soaked first week at the Edinburgh fringe, but nevertheless, the fizzy verbal pitches that accompany the confett…
Continue ReadingAssembly George Square Gardens, EdinburghIn this intimate show backed by a live harp, the effortlessly charming comedian expounds on platonic, brotherly and romantic love At one end of St Pancras train station is a neon pink sign by Tracey Emin that re…
Continue ReadingLeith theatre, EdinburghThe performance poet absorbs all of the uncertainty and anger of our times, and pours it into ferocious, apocalyptic music that both wounds and healsRarely can a room have felt so alive. With her Mercury-nominated mix of spoken …
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghThe Australian absurdist lays waste to standup convention with glee and skill – but is she too clever for her own good?No gimmicks, promises Zoë Coombs Marr: no message, no arc, no politics. We know her best as “Dave”, th…
Continue ReadingI was told a man had been masturbating during my show. I’ve since heard of two other performers it has happened to. Isn’t comedy meant to be a space where we can safely express ourselves?A comedian friend of mine told me that being on stage is the only…
Continue ReadingStand Comedy Club, Edinburgh The standup tenderly hymns the joys of new parenthood in this delightful, tightly focused showHaving a baby is about as far from unique an experience as it’s possible to get, so it’s impressive how Josie Long makes it her p…
Continue ReadingThat feeling when you get misgendered by a barista … The LOL Word proves there’s a place for comedy that isn’t straight or male with a heart-rendingly hilarious Edinburgh showJodie Mitchell is slowly moving around the stage, blowing into a microphone…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghMore anarchic comedy, sexual frankness and in-yer-face clowning from the director behind Natalie PalamidesIs there a more singular style in comedy than Dr Brown’s? The shows in which he’s had a hand – his own, culminating i…
Continue ReadingPleasance Dome, Edinburgh Kathy Burke directs Amy Booth-Steel’s feelgood, if cliched, ukulele-assisted chronicle of cancer and PTSDFive years ago, Amy Booth-Steel was a jobbing actor, when she was diagnosed with stage three cancer and told she could be…
Continue ReadingHe quit booze and Scotland – and became a chat show sensation in the US. As he returns to standup on his home turf, we rescue him from selfie-takers on the streets of GlasgowOn the morning we meet, Glasgow seems especially delighted to have Craig Fergu…
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