Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: The Death and Life of All of Us / Anything That We Wanted To Be / ChickenSaturday, 05 August 2023The Death and Life of All of Us, Summerhall ★★★★Victor Esses was 16 when he first discovered his grandmother had a sister – someone the family had never discussed. It was just a year after his own first illicit visit to a gay sauna.Esses’s... Read more... |
First Person: Marc Burrows on getting to know Sir Terry PratchettTuesday, 01 August 2023In a very real sense, Terry Pratchett taught me how to write. I first came across his work when I was 12 years old, in the early 90s.My parents had been given copies of two of the earliest books in his Discworld series, Guards! Guards! and The... Read more... |
Urooj Ashfaq, Soho Theatre review - assured UK debut by Mumbai stand-upTuesday, 01 August 2023It's takes a confident comic performing only her second show in English – her second language – to joke near the top of the hour: “I didn't know I wasn't as funny in English.” Urooj Ashfaq also told us she would get upset if the audience didn't like... Read more... |
Josh Pugh Live at Birmingham Town Hall review - observational gags with a touch of the surrealWednesday, 26 July 2023Josh Pugh made quite an impression at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, where he was deservedly nominated for best show in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards with Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans. In this special YouTube version, recorded at Birmingham... Read more... |
Dave Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2022Wednesday, 31 August 2022The Dave Edinburgh Awards went abroad this year – Australian Sam Campbell won for best show at the Fringe, while American Lara Ricote won best newcomer.Campbell won against strong competition from Seann Walsh, Liz Kingsman, Delightful Sausage, Alfie... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 review: The StonesMonday, 22 August 2022In many ways, The Stones is what the Fringe is all about: a new theatre company (London-based Signal House); a single actor; a small black-box space; just a chair, a bit of smoke and some almost imperceptible lighting changes for a staging. And with... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Ode to Joy / WilfFriday, 19 August 2022Ode to Joy (How Gordon Got to Go to the Nasty Pig Party), Summerhall ★★★★★You receive a glossary on your way in to James Ley’s high-voltage, high-camp Ode to Joy in the ancient, steeply raked lecture hall-cum-theatre of Summerhall’s Demonstration... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Hal Cruttenden / Zach Zucker / The Delightful SausageWednesday, 17 August 2022Hal Cruttenden, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★ Hal Cruttenden is the kind of observational comic who talks about his home life a lot, so when his wife announced recently that their marriage was over it could have meant a quick swerve away from... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Randy Feltface / Sarah Keyworth / Andrew MaxwellTuesday, 16 August 2022Randy Feltface, Assembly George Square ★★★★ Despite being made of felt, with a gash for a mouth and two googly eyes, Randy Feltface (always seen in the vicinity of Heath McIvor) can, astonishingly, appear to emote. Of course, he can't – we are... Read more... |
Counting and Cracking, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - ambitious, powerful, but sadly under-attendedSaturday, 13 August 2022First, a bit of housekeeping. Maybe it was the three-and-a-half-hour duration, or maybe the unfamiliar Sri Lankan subject matter, or maybe even the very un-festival-like hot weather that put people off an evening inside Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Temping / Work.txtFriday, 12 August 2022Temping, Assembly George Square Studios ★★★★Sarah Jane is away in Hawaii. But don’t worry – she’s left plenty of instructions for your day temping in the actuaries’ office, checking voicemails, answering emails, updating spreadsheets. After all, it’... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Afghanistan Is Not Funny / Yippee Ki Yay / Eh Up, Me Old Flowers!Friday, 12 August 2022Afghanistan Is Not Funny, Gilded Balloon ★★★★ Henry Naylor’s Arabian Nightmares trilogy - about the West’s misadventures in Syria and Iraq and how we have learned nothing - were hits at previous festivals; now he presents this new show,... Read more... |