Monday, August 21, 2023
As the expense of performing and watching shows at the fringe is ever rising, three comedians ask their audiences to reassess what they place value on
Money is changing hands during a number…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:07AMFriday, August 18, 2023
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghPauroso is an astonishing performer who teases the crowd but her show raises more questions than there’s time to fully explore
Vanessa 5000, the creation of s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:25PMComedians at the festival are enlisting volunteers to join in their acts, creating a warm, inclusive and fun space
As I cross the threshold of US comedian Moses Storm’s Edinburgh fringe sh…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:49AMThursday, August 17, 2023
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIdentity politics are deftly and hilariously tackled, with the help of a diamante-studded sporran, in a compelling show
Jodie Mitchell’s debut hour in some wa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:55AMMonday, August 14, 2023
Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghShowing off an impressive range of facial expressions, the comic takes us on a whistle-stop tour of his life with songs and sketches
I’ve seen Adam Flood tel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:19PMSaturday, August 12, 2023
Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, EdinburghBradley throws a kids’ birthday bash full of nostalgic fun as they discuss their parents’ recent split, deftly immersing the audience in games and stori…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49PMFriday, August 11, 2023
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghUsing snippets of pop culture, lip-syncing, video and clowning, the pair craft a rich exploration of eating disorders and gender dysphoria
Frankie Thompson, res…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:55PMTuesday, July 25, 2023
Theatre and comedy acts at this year’s festival break down their expenses and consider the financial risks
“The big, difficult cost this year is accommodation,” says RoguePlay’s arti…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AMTuesday, June 13, 2023
Sophie Duker and Jacob Hawley discuss how to draw revellers away from pop stars while Glastonbury’s Charlotte Lang explains what it takes to win over the cabaret tent
You’re in a massive…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:37AMFriday, April 28, 2023
Want to survive in the arts? Get a side hustle. We speak to an award-winning poet and governance manager, a gigging guitarist and teacher – and a successful comic who doubles as an immigra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AMMonday, April 10, 2023
On Good Friday, police were called to a performance of The Bodyguard – and there have been numerous other examples of audiences behaving badly. With crowds heckling, screaming, livestreami…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PMTuesday, March 14, 2023
Some lied. Some hid it. And few even mined it for jokes. Becoming a mum used to be near-fatal to a comedian’s career. But now, in a Mother’s Day special, we meet the new wave taking on t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AMMonday, March 6, 2023
Rich Hardisty cut himself, Harriet Dyer numbed her pain with drugs. A new wave of comics are working out their issues in their acts. But is it really helping them? And should we be laughing?…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AMFriday, February 17, 2023
Birmingham RepThe excellent puppeteers are the stars of this two-hour staging of the popular TV satire where Paddington plays an evil powerbroker but the punchlines are too often predictable…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AMThe self-deprecating star has won two Edinburgh awards but remains a niche concern. Will a recent breakout turn on Taskmaster and a huge nationwide tour bring his absurdist comedy to the mai…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:00AMTuesday, December 20, 2022
Ambassadors theatre, LondonLiz Kingsman’s slick, self-conscious ‘troubled woman’ show nests its complex jokes within jokes to tremendous effect
‘We need women’s story,” says Liz …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMFriday, November 18, 2022
It will take more than multiple Edinburgh nominations to convince comedy duo Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill that they’re a success. Perhaps a TV sitcom would do it?
When Amy Gledhill and …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMFriday, November 11, 2022
Camden People’s theatre, LondonDonning an insect costume, the magnetic Liv Ello uses clowning to land a deeply serious point about our times
Liv Ello is the director of Frankie Thompson’…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AMFriday, September 23, 2022
Even though it affects one in five pregnancies, the loss of a baby is rarely talked about, especially among men. But standups Jacob Hawley and Will Duggan are using comedy to break that tabo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:25AMThursday, September 22, 2022
Too pricy, too elitist, just too big? After the criticisms of this year’s event, a panel of festival regulars consider the way forward for Edinburgh’s summer spectacular
Katy Koren, co-a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMFriday, September 16, 2022
The Ohio-raised star of movies and TV shows such as Shrill and I Think You Should Leave says comedy is a refuge from the impacts of being trans and that, right now, she’s happy to be in th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:13AMFriday, August 26, 2022
While debates about cancel culture rage on at Edinburgh, a trio of performers are critiquing ‘edgelord’ humour, while still remembering to be funny
‘Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:43AMFriday, August 19, 2022
After lockdowns kept them out of touch with audiences, standups explain their exhilaration at coming together to raise laughs at Edinburgh fringe
The lights go down signalling the start of t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54AMThursday, August 18, 2022
With research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainers
Posey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinbur…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07AMMonday, August 15, 2022
Just because a joke works in one country or language doesn’t mean it will in another. Globetrotting standups talk about routines that have bombed – and the changes that saved them
When Y…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33PMMonday, August 8, 2022
Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghFrom relationship recovery to getting her phone messages spoken out by the audience, Koch has charisma and punchlines to burn
The infamous opening notes of Sha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMSunday, August 7, 2022
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghLeaving no cat-related reference unlicked, Thompson’s show is artfully clownish and funny
The stage is set with a treadmill, yoga mat, step-up box and a big s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AMSaturday, August 6, 2022
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghA properly fresh take on quarter-century living, Magliano’s is a charismatic debut moving through divorce, sexuality and cat-buying with ease
Absolutely No W…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54PMFriday, August 5, 2022
Assembly George Square, The Box, EdinburghIn her show Is It a Bird? the comic has the audience on their feet with a nuanced and deeply funny hour of music and jokes
‘This is going to be br…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PMGilded Balloon Patter Hoose, EdinburghThe US comic plays a fast-talking agent, a straight-talking sex therapist and a six-year-old divorcee in this high-energy hour
Linda Hollywood is an old…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PMMonday, July 11, 2022
Standups used to think they’d never make it if they didn’t play the festival. But it’s leaving many saddled with debt, stuck in squalid flats and even suicidal. Refuseniks tell us why …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:24AM 
