✭✭✭✭ While many comedians have traditionally done work in progress shows in London and around the country before coming to Edinburgh, Reginald D Hunter is one of an increasing number of comedians who seem to be using Edinburgh as a place to road test material ahead of a national tour. Maybe it’s a hangover from […]
Review: Shaparak Khorsandi, ShapChat
✭✭✭✭ Early on in her new show, Shaparak Khorsandi tells her audience that they won’t learn anything from this show, there are no big messages, and they might even come out of it knowing less than they did when they went in. To most of the audience this is probably a green light that says […]
Review: Emmanuel Sonubi: Curriculum Vitae
✭✭✭ In his sophomore Fringe show, the 2022 Edinburgh comedy awards best newcomer nominee shows why, out of all the nominees he is the one most likely to make the transition to mainstream TV shows. It’s his relaxed delivery and ability to produce anecdotes at will that immediately establish a rapport with an audience, as […]
Review: Ed Byrne, Tragedy plus time
✭✭✭✭✭ The Dead Dad show has almost become a cliché, thanks to the number of comedians who have done shows on that theme in recent years. In his 2023 Fringe show, Ed Byrne is reinventing the genre and stepping down a generation with the dead brother show. It’s what he would have wanted, as Byrne […]
Review: Lena (the story of Lena Zavaroni)
✭✭✭✭ The Fringe has seen many plays about the lives of deceased stars from the 60s and 70s in recent years, but none have been more moving than Lena, the story of Lena Zavaroni, the singer from Bute who rose to fame at the age of 10 in 1974 after appearing on Opportunity Knocks, the […]