Reviews & features: Tom Maxwell

Generally speaking, Fringe sketch shows with deliberately wacky titles are about as entertaining as the Star Wars prequels. This is no exception. This duo barely have enough half-decent material to fill five minutes, let alone an hour. The pop music…

In a word: awesome

Catchy tunes, brilliant lyrics and hilarious banter make this one of the most feelgood shows around. Australia's answer to Spinal Tap start with a spot-on parody of Europop before singing about adult mutant ninja turtles and a Bond villain with a lazy…

There's bumbling idiocy aplenty as Steve Delaney's masterful creation makes a triumphant return. Wearing mismatched shoes and with a coat hanger dangling from his jacket, the deluded elderly Doncaster thesp takes you through some of his career…

Given the obvious talent of writers and performers Jonathan Clarkson and Rob Crouch, this show simply doesn't deliver as many laughs as it should. Seeing two of the Thundercats being reunited at a former colleague's funeral and watching Shelley and…

While vaguely interesting, Meyers' tales about travelling to India to learn more about her family's history can hardly be described as side-splitting. All too often you find yourself waiting for a punchline that doesn't come, while the fact that this…

Whether he's collecting money to kill puppies or pay off his mortgage, most people give generously to Laurence Clark because he's in a wheelchair. Using hidden cameras, the comedian with cerebral palsy exposes stupidity and ignorance to devastating…

If it's quick-fire gags or humorous musings on the human condition you're after, look elsewhere. Aczel's entire routine is based on the fact that he's ill-prepared and can't really be bothered. It's quite amusing to begin with, but at some point you may…

As intense and intelligent a performer as you're likely to see all summer, Longley is as angry with himself as he is at the rest of the world. The super-cynical comedian not only tells great jokes, but you sense that his rants on everything from sex to…

Not everything makes a great deal of sense, but Frankly Robert Productions' latest sketch show contains plenty of laughs and moments of genuine poignancy. The best bits revolve around the scurviest video pirate ever to sail the seven seas and a former…