Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Emmanuel Sonubi / Joz Norris

Emmanuel Sonubi, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★

This show – Life After Near Death – is not about dying, it is about living, Emmanuel Sonubi tells us. Well, actually it’s about both, as in his case he nearly died of heart failure but, thankfully here he is.

A physically imposing figure, the comic – an ex-nightclub bouncer – certainly looks good, but then he has always been fit. But not fit and healthy, as we learn he had a taste for big nights out that would include “party sugar”. There’s only so long you can cane it before the Grim Reaper starts taking an interest.

Sonubi reflects on what a near-death experience has taught him and, while some of the reflections are touching – tell those dear to you that you love them, for instance – others are drily witty. He eventually told doctors the truth about his hedonistic lifestyle, and made sure to wipe his browser history on his laptop the minute he was able.

He goes on to talk about being a dad, and his mother’s own brush with death, and how the illnesses he and his mother survived have changed his outlook.

That’s some big stuff for a comedy show, but it's a slick hour and Sonubi peppers it with a lot of laughs.

• Until 25 August; then touring from 17 September

Joz Norris, Pleasance Dome ★★★

Joz Norris is about to unveil the fruits of his life’s work, he tells us in You Wait. Time Passes. But initially that’s a tease as we see what it has cost him. After all, artists – and he wears a headband with ARTIST written across it – must suffer for their art.

What follows is a weird, fantastical tale, peopled by characters at the other end of the phone – his ex-wife who has moved on, their young child, his friend Carl – telling us how he got to this point. He has tried being a stand-up comic – cue weak gags. He has tried being an actor – cue his one-man Kes. And a magician – but perhaps a funeral wasn’t the best setting…

Before the big reveal, Norris muses on his ambitions. He wants to be the number-one Google search for Joz, for instance, and to be able to show his ex that all those hours working on his project were worth it and, not, as she says, the signs of a delusional man.

We learn – in the show’s funniest section, with great physical comedy – of his collaboration with Carl on an AI sex chatbot.

It’s all utterly daft. And the reveal? Worth the wait. 

• Until 24 August
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