Reviews & features: Comedy
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Alan Francis
13 Aug 2012
Intelligent discourse on religion, politics and economics from Edinburgher
Alan Francis is a traditional comedian whose intelligent discourse is delivered through a thick Edinburgh accent, despite him now holding residence in London. The routine opens with a light-hearted look back at recent times as Francis bemoans his…
Dan Wright
13 Aug 2012
Energetic and enthusiastic journey through Michael Jackson fandom
Michael Jackson touched Dan Wright. 32 years old and still pining for the star who blazed a trail and burned out too soon, Wright takes us on a trip down memory lane, from childhood to the present day as a hardened fan, via those awkward, bullied…
The Chris and Paul Show
13 Aug 2012
Almost (great) silent comedy
This north American comedy duo have got two very good things going for them: they’re pretty adept at performing silent comedy and they’re reminiscent of that great post-war double act Abbot and Costello. But they really need to tighten up their act. For…
Graters: Julian Ignores His Friend and Talks To A Pretty Girl
13 Aug 2012
Ambitious but flawed idea for a sketch show
James wants to be a stand up. Julian calls himself an entertainer and cheerfully ditches his friend to talk to two women in the pub. Played out to the side of this tableau – one that remains on the stage throughout - are Julian's 'crap' ideas that he is…
Truth
13 Aug 2012
Surreal character comedy from Angus Ecstatic creators
Vachel Spirason tells us multiple times at the beginning of Truth that he is a “storyteller”. For much of this bonkers 60 minutes, his story makes no sense at all – but trust that it all comes together satisfyingly in the end. With the invisible help…
Des Bishop Likes To Bang
13 Aug 2012
Tragic-comedy with hip hop tones
I’m American so I love myself, but I’m Irish so I hate myself,’ declares Bishop from his stance in front of the central point of his show, an electronic drum kit. It is an instrument, he opines, upon which it is impossible to create music about any sad…
Owen O'Neill: Struck By Lightning
13 Aug 2012
Evocative monologue that stays with you for sometime after
Yes there's a dry wit in evidence, but comedian O'Neill's latest show sits in the storytelling one-man play camp of his varied oeuvre rather than the stand up. As the lights go up O'Neill springs up out of bed in his jim jams and with a face 'the colour…
Jarred Christmas
13 Aug 2012
Breathless show from the Pot Noodle pimp
Jarred Christmas launches his show with such energetic gusto it's a wonder he's not flat out on the floor after the first minute. It's a spectacular entry, not particularly inventive but perfectly judged to endear himself to the crowd and terrify his…
Marek Larwood: Typecast
13 Aug 2012
Pleasing pratfalls from former We Are Klangster
The former We Are Klangster’s solo show is manic and messy. However, Larwood holds it together, and generates considerable laughter, chiefly by dint of his unenviable – and sort of charming - ability to make himself look like a complete pratt while at…
Tiffany Stevenson
13 Aug 2012
Gobby, warm and putting the world to rights
Swigging cider and conspiratorial, Tiffany Stevenson manages to make you feel like you’re in your local putting the world to rights. And no stone is left unturned or rogue hair unplucked: class (working; ‘bring back tea and manufacturing!’) and racism…
Chris Corcoran and Elis James: The Committee Meeting
13 Aug 2012
Not the slickest show of the Fringe but an absolute riot
You can imagine that Elis James and Chris Corcoran's small Welsh village committee meeting probably hinges on how up for it the audience are on any one day. We are the committee members after all. On the day we were in everyone was full of, as they say…
Gearoid Farrelly: Turbulence
13 Aug 2012
Irishman's Edinburgh debut an engaging success
Though he seems a touch nervy at first and genuinely surprised that he has an audience that almost fills the Wee Room at the Gilded Balloon, Farrelly actually has nothing to be worried about. When he hits his stride the slight Irishman from a rough area…
Helen Arney – Voice of an Angle
13 Aug 2012
Twee show could profit from more singing and less chat
Science pixie Helen Arney mashes together physics, maths and music in a show that teeters the verge between lecture and gig. She is armed with her trusty ukulele, but it’s not all tacky and twee, as her cutesy ditties are littered with more than a…
Armageddapocalypse: Threat Level Dead
13 Aug 2012
Brilliant high-energy comedy taking action movie spoof to new levels
Armageddapocalypse is not just a spoof of every action movie ever made. It takes spoof to new levels, blasting it through the air with one liners and quick-fire sketches, before machine-gunning it to pieces with satire and sarcasm. It’s high-energy…
Alistair Barrie: Urban Fogey
13 Aug 2012
Solid material and great audience chemistry from cerebral suited comic
Now in his tenth year as a professional comic, Alistair Barrie’s material feels fresh and his stage presence uninhibited, despite the stylised, buttoned-up appearance. Swiping through swathes of usual comedian fodder, the suited self ironiser has a…
Tom Cottle’s These Twisted Folk
13 Aug 2012
Shambolic comedy play where the only laughs are accidental
It’s not an encouraging start when the best thing you can say about a play is that they handled their mishaps well. Unfortunately, that’s about all Tom Cottle’s These Twisted Folk has going for it, and as the act becomes more polished over the course of…
Mark Little: THEbullshitARTIST
13 Aug 2012
Mis-marketed spoken word ramble lacking in structure
Halfway through Mark Little’s rambling, hazily political spoken word show, a surly heckler is ejected. As an usher removes him, Little remarks (somewhat apologetically), ‘I guess you must’ve come to the wrong show, mate.’ From the exit, the punter…
Catie Wilkins: Joy Is My Middle Name
13 Aug 2012
Mildly feminist, endearingly self-deprecating and funny
Catie Wilkins is an unusual comedian; she’s shy, she says and as she steps onto the stage blinking she looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Luckily for her, she also ‘gets off on peril’ and in a room full of people waiting for her to make them…
Chris Difford and Norman Lovett: It's All About Me!
12 Aug 2012
Squeeze singer and Red Dwarf comedian in inexplicable team-up
Quite why Chris Difford of highly-successful 70s and 80s pop group Squeeze has chosen to embellish his partial spoken word life story with the presence of miserablist comedian and former Red Dwarf actor Norman Lovett is never explained here, so we can…
My Edinburgh: Greg Hemphill
12 Aug 2012
The star of An Appointment With the Wicker Man shares his favourite bits of the capital
First time I came to Edinburgh was … 1990. I won So You Think You’re Funny with The Trio Bros Troupe. I come back because … It’s awesome fun. Edinburgh’s unique selling point is … A chance to try something out. To be bold and brave and stretch…
Russell Kane talks pop music, Indian food and bad hair - interview
11 Aug 2012
The comic and author answers our questions ahead of his appearances at Book Festival and Fringe
First record you ever bought ‘I Should Be So Lucky.’ Last extravagant purchase you made My new Prius. First film you saw that really moved you Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. Last lie you told It won’t hurt, I promise. First…
The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd
11 Aug 2012
A shaky start gives way to a turbo-charged character comedy show
Last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee returns with that ‘difficult second show’ (her words) which, as it turns out, gets off to a wobbly start but ends with the kind of big bang that that leaves one wanting to see a lot more of this…
Jessie Cave: Bookworm
11 Aug 2012
A bookish, kooky, bolshy hour
Jessie Cave has a thing about books. She also has a thing about power. Founding a book club is a given. Giddy with excitement, Cave parades her many eccentricities while laying down the various rules of book club. Before becoming an actress (she played…
The Pin
11 Aug 2012
Layered sketch comedy from ex-Footlighters Ben Ashenden, Mark Fiddaman and Alex Owen
The beauty of sketch comedy lies within its potential to bring together the two worlds of theatre and comedy with the aim of creating something far larger and more consuming. With such limitless opportunity though comes great risk: a bombed gag, an…
Casual Violence: A Kick in the Teeth
11 Aug 2012
Dark sketch material with an absurdist, surreal tone
It’s rare that a comedy show is very nearly spoiled by an audience member being too nice. But here, at every single moment of vague pathos, mild jeopardy and thwarted ambition, a very audible ‘aaaw’ erupted across the auditorium as though what we were…
