Troll review – sweetly silly Nordic comedy is monstrous fun

Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh The real beasts – not the internet kind – have come to teach us their ways, learn human stuff and dish the dirt on billy goatsIt’s not easy being green. Just ask these two trolls, sporting hoodies, tights and trainers in v…

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‘The doc said you’re having a heart attack right now’: why is US standup Mike Birbiglia still alive?

The comic, who has survived cancer and once sleep-jumped through a closed hotel window, is bringing his Broadway smash about mortality to the UK. ‘I guarantee you’ll laugh,’ he saysFor someone whose affably rumpled appearance suggests Matt Damon waking…

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Hannah Camilleri: Lolly Bag review – star quality shines through the skits

Assembly George Square, EdinburghThe Australian comedian makes it immediately clear you are in safe hands with a show of sketches and charactersIt’s a thrill when a comic you’re seeing for the first time steps onstage, and you know instantly you’re in …

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John Tothill: The Last Living Libertine review – bubbly, flirty tangents through history

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghSchoolteacher-by-day Tothill’s foppish persona is a delight and his thesis, that hedonism died with the Reformation, is convincingThere are newcomers on the fringe delivering comedy in hand-me-down voices – and then there’…

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Martin Urbano: Apology Comeback Tour review – queasy comedy brings aghast laughter

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe conceit in the comic’s fringe debut is that his sleazebag persona has been #MeTooed and returns with a barrage of bad-taste jokes “Too dark and weird for mainstream success”? That’s how Martin Urbano describes himself …

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Lorna Rose Treen’s ‘stupid joke’ named funniest of the fringe

Comedian ‘blooming chuffed’ as she becomes the second woman to win the award in its 14 yearsA one-liner described by its author as “stupid” has topped the poll for best joke of the Edinburgh fringe.Lorna Rose Treen was voted winner of the annual compet…

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Laura Ramoso: Frances review – TikTok star’s full-bodied commitment to joking

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghRamoso delivers an irresistible show featuring dozens of characters in sketches, improv and a comic playSketch is usually a team game – and you could believe there’s a team of comedians at work generating Laura Ramoso’s Frances…

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‘We’ve had one Fleabag. We can’t have another’ – has the legendary Edinburgh hit become a curse?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s uncouth one-woman show is seen as the epitome of festival success. But 10 years on, we speak to three fringe performers battling to escape its long shadowTen years ago, Phoebe Waller-Bridge perched on a stool and delivered a line…

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Until Death review – brief encounters with mortality and Marilyn Merlot

theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, EdinburghNalini Sharma makes an engaging fringe debut, using clowning skills and audience participation in a show inspired by her hospital stay“What’s your favourite phallus?” asks performance artist Sophia Cleary in her fring…

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Terrence the T-Rex review – dino entertainers lock horns

Bedlam theatre, EdinburghIn this comic two-hander, uptight Terrence is hawking a prehistoric children’s show when he’s forced into collaborating with upfront Tri-Sarah-TopsIs the Edinburgh fringe big enough for rival comedy shows about warring children…

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