Articles by Alec Martin

Hustlers

The stage is strewn with detritus, traces of lives lived on the margin.

Eugene Onegin

Staging is the star in Barrie Kosky’s take on Eugene Onegin.

Night Walk for Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Old Town breathes history, sometimes with a roar, and sometimes with a whisper.

Two Guys, Three Drams: The Ultimate Live Blues and Whisky Experience

Is there a more intoxicating combination than blues music and good whisky? There is – blues music and multiple good whiskies.

Roots

Folk tales are a fascinating, timeless and valuable form of cultural currency, once passed around by firelight and now echoing through art, music, and literature.

The Living Room

What’s more mundane than death? What’s more absurd? In a slice of often brave, often very funny, and occasionally extremely poignant clowning, Amritha Dhaliwal and Gemma Soldat…

Tarot

Will the Fool ascend the tower to dwell in the chambers of the moon? Will the Hermit jump in a chariot and spin the wheel of fortune? You might discover the answers by checking out…

Phil Wang: Philly Philly Wang Wang

Phil Wang needs this more than us, or so he tells the packed Pleasance venue he’s playing this year.

Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind

Spencer Jones took last year’s Edinburgh Fringe off, but did he waste his time idling? Not a chance.

Garry Starr Conquers Troy

Selfless to a fault, Garry Starr is ready to share the lessons he’s learned about the actors’ craft, the art of pretending.

Two brothers meet by the banks of a river in Nigeria, the same river which saw them turn from children into fishermen many years before. Separated by eight years and a world of experience, it is an uneasy reunion...

Garry Starr Performs Everything

Starr is a bag of nervous insecurity, wrapped up in a paper thin façade of theatrical overconfidence. Featuring an Elizabethan ruffle and often very little else, Garry Starr is one of the most perfectly pitched comedy characters you’ll see at the Fringe this year...

Loki, the Scottish Rapper: Poverty Safari Live

Like stereotypes, labels generally become meaningless upon scrutiny. Loki (aka Darren McGarvey) is a Glaswegian, working-class rapper. Poverty Safari Live offers a perspective which is rooted in, but challenges, the meaning of all these labels in contemporary society...

Simon Munnery: The Wreath

On any given afternoon in the Fringe, you’re likely to find Simon Munnery gracing the stage of The Stand comedy club. On the day of review it wasn’t raining, preventing the comic from one of his most reliable gags (“do you enjoy the dampness of the sauna but dislike the excessive warmth? Visit Edinburgh in August”), but there were plenty of familiar Munnerisms on display – a blend of surreal perspectives, snippets of songs, written material and gloriously amateurish DIY props...

Silence

Bandolier-clad gladiators on stilts rampage through the performance space, brandishing burning wheels and wreaking havoc on the lives of terrified refugees. All of this is to the discordant tones of a heavy and loud industrial soundtrack...

Jayde Adams: The Divine Ms Jayde

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. Life gave Jayde Adams a Bristolian upbringing, great comic sensibility, an affinity for drag queens, and an impressive set of pipes...

Lazy Susan: Forgive Me, Mother!

Freya Parker and Celeste Dring are back at the Fringe with a refreshingly light-hearted slice of sketch show comedy. Their well-structured selection of set-pieces and comedic episodes make for an enjoyable hour of entertainment...

Jamali Maddix: Vape Lord

Jamali Maddix strides on the stage and immediately takes some shots at the easier targets in the front of the audience. It marks an entertaining kick off to a show, which starts and finishes strongly but sinks with an uneven middle section...

Scott Gibson: Anywhere but Here

Humans are storytellers. We tell stories about ourselves and each other throughout our lives; sometimes to entertain, sometimes to inform and sometimes to impose a little bit of order on what is often a chaotic world...

Darius Davies: Road to Wrestlemania

By all accounts Darius Davies has had a few interesting experiences this Fringe. The self-confessed comedy heel is back at the festival with a reworked and much-improved professional wrestling based show...

Dane Baptiste: G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.)

The world is too insane right now to claim the traditional gods are dead but our modern culture has definitely found a few new idols to worship. Dane Baptiste has identified a few of them in his new religiously charged and often insightful show, and while it's not a total success it remains a thought-provoking hour of comedy littered with sharp observations and belly laugh provoking one-liners...

Damien Power – Utopia: Now in 3D!

The translation of the word utopia, if my Ancient Greek (and Wikipedia) haven't let me down, is "no-place". Simply put, utopia is an ideal; it's a fantasy that can never be manifested in the real world...

Mark Thomas: A Show That Gambles on the Future

Review
★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Summerhall
7th Aug, 2017

Early in his Fringe show Mark Thomas reveals the impressively religious character of his upbringing. The discovery that the comic's family tree is littered with preachers and clergy cannot help but elicit an ‘Oh really? Ah that makes sense’ response...

Henning Wehn: Westphalia is Not an Option

You know you've made it as a comedian when you can include an interval and encore in your Edinburgh Fringe show. This year Henning Wehn is afforded these luxuries and he shows how he can draw big crowds during an entertaining if uneven routine...

Chris Turner: What a Time to Be Alive

Chris Turner has moved to the good old US of A and he’s back in Edinburgh to tell the festival audiences about it. In a dextrous hour of comedy and freestyle rap the comedian provides entertaining insights and impressive lyrical improvisations as he shares the observations and experiences of a well-mannered, tea-swilling, thoroughly decent English fellow in a whole new world...

Tom Binns is Ian D Montfort: How to Touch Dead People

Part TED talk, part psychic extravaganza, Tom Binns’ extrasensory expert Ian D Montfort is back at the festival and he’s determined to convince the sceptics the dead are among us and he can touch them...

Woody Allen(ish)

Review
★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Frankenstein Pub
15th Aug, 2016

How to review something like Woody Allen(ish)? The comedy equivalent of a tribute act, it’s a show which sees English comic Simon Schatzberger adopt the material and persona of the famous comedian, writer and director...

Lucie Pohl: Apohlcalypse Now!

With last year’s Cry me a Liver Lucy Pohl proved herself to be an exceptional actor, throwing herself into each of her characters with impressive resolve. With her new show she underlines her acting chops while displaying a knack for storytelling...

Alice Marshall: Vicious

People are vicious. People are arseholes. Alice Marshall knows this and she’s used it to fashion an hour of intelligent and very funny character comedy.The host for this exploration of human cruelty is Greta Medina...

Chris Turner: Observational Tragedy

Last year Chris Turner brought a show about his physical wellbeing to the Edinburgh stage, blending stand-up and rapping to explore his brushes with mortality. This year he uses that same approach but turns the spotlight on cerebral matters...

Marny Godden: Where's John's Porridge Bowl?

Something’s happened to John’s porridge bowl and Marny Godden has crafted an hour of surreal, very physical comedy to find out exactly what. It turns out to be a whimsical and enjoyable experience orchestrated by a charismatic and very funny performer...

The Thinking Drinkers: Around the World in 80 Drinks

The Thinking Drinkers are back at the Fringe and this year they’re serving up a whistle stop tour of the world’s boozy traditions, mixing up a cocktail of historical facts, filthy innuendos and free drinks...

Yeti's – Demon Dive Bar

There’s a warm and weird welcome upon arrival at Yeti’s - Demon Dive Bar. Popcorn flies, hands are stamped and the two hosts climb around the audience, ensuring everyone is immediately immersed in the distinctly oddball scene...

Darius Davies – Road to Wrestlemania

I remember the World Wrestling Federation Attitude Era well. In fact I’m still getting over the moment The Rock besmirched William Regal at thanksgiving in 2000. It was a golden age when wrestling was in-your-face and packed with big characters putting their bodies on the line in the name of entertainment...

Tom Ward: Sex, Snails and Cassette Tapes

Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths is playing loudly when Tom Ward ambles into his Pleasance performance space, setting an informal tone which persists throughout this enjoyably offbeat hour of comedy...

Dominic Frisby: Let's Talk About Tax

Comedy can be incredibly effective as a vehicle for delivering a message. In Dominic Frisby’s new show, comedy is more like an attractive paint job – it’s an engaging veneer covering a compelling argument against the way our tax system works...

Phil Dunning: The People's Prince

As his simple but extremely catchy theme tune states at the outset of The People’s Prince, his name is Phil. At first it is anyway. By the end of the show this talented character comedian uses a long list of other names as he works his way through an impressively eclectic and often very funny selection of alternate personalities...

Will Duggan: A Man Gathering Fish

Will Duggan is an angry man and it’s not entirely clear why. By his own admission he’s having a fine time of it as a straight, white, middle-class man in a country where being those things give you advantages over others...

Spencer Jones Presents The Herbert in Eggy Bagel

Spencer Jones is once more going full tilt in the surrealism stakes, and the result is a fantastically strange success. The Herbert is back at the Fringe provoking gales of laughter while deftly defying description with another slice of bizarre clowning comedy...

Juliette Burton: Decision Time

Attacking her material with a mixture of nervous energy and enthusiasm Juliette Burton launches into her act by describing her difficulties in making decisions, then tracing the big choices which have brought her to an Edinburgh stage in front of a packed room...

Glenn Moore: Glengarry Glen Glenn

To borrow from one of Glenn Moore’s own references, this show is a tale of two cities... well, actually it’s the tale of one city, a remote village in West Sussex, and the journey of a socially awkward young man between the two locations...

Milo McCabe: The Unflappable Troy Hawke

Milo McCabe steps onto the stage as Troy Hawke with the swagger of an assured performer. Over the next fifty or so minutes the comedian proves that both he and his creation are us unflappable as the show’s title suggests, putting in a very entertaining performance as he explores some of the foibles of modern life from a uniquely unusual perspective...

Spencer Jones Presents: The Herbert in Proper Job

On any given night during the Edinburgh Fringe there are dozens of funny comics standing on stage talking about the life and loves of a performer. It’s understandably tough to stand out amongst this sea of talent, well unless you’re Spencer Jones...

Pajama Men: 2 Man 3 Musketeers

Review
★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Assembly Roxy
27th Aug, 2015

Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez have once again brought their surreal blend of comedy and physical theatre to Edinburgh, and this time they’re taking on a classic of world literature...

Franks and Skinner Present: Myself and Myself

If life gives you lemons you stuff them in a German’s face and make a joke about sauerkraut. If life gives you the opportunity to form a double act whose combined name is a mere letter away from one of the country’s best-known comedians, you take it...

Jim Smallman: My Girls

There’s something refreshing about seeing a stand-up show with a title that accurately reflects the content of the act. The show’s called My Girls and over the course of an hour Smallman explores the relationships he has with the most important ladies in his life – principally his wife and young daughter, but also his mother...

Sy Thomas: Jumper

How difficult is comedy when you’re a nice guy who’s had a nice life? What well can you draw from for your material? It’s a problem that Sy Thomas has grappled with, and one which he negotiates in his Fringe show...

Marny Godden: Flap ‘em on the Gate

From the moment Marny Godden’s first character walks onto the stage to a decidedly creepy soundtrack it’s clear that the comedian will be leading the audience down an unusual path...

Croft & Pearce – There's Always Something

Review
★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Gilded Balloon
17th Aug, 2015

Returning to the Fringe with another slice of slickly made sketch comedy, Hannah Croft and Fiona Pearce once more impress with cleverly structured and impeccably acted comic vignettes...

Goose: Kablamo

In Goose: Kablamo, comedian Adam Drake has created a comedy show that doesn’t so much defy description, it just stuffs so much in that it is very difficult to do the act justice by trying...

The Old Fella

He’s a true-blue, straight-talking Aussie and he’s in town for some old fashioned stand-up, knock-em down comedy. Well, I say stand-up but when Rod Gregory, The Old Fella himself, takes to the stage the first thing he does is hang his bushman’s hat on the mic stand and take a seat before getting on with the show...

Katia Kvinge: 140 Karakters

Review
★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Just the Tonic at the Caves (Salvation Rooms)
13th Aug, 2015

At the start of her show Katia Kvinge explains the combination of cultures which has helped make her the person she is today. With Norwegian parentage on one side, American on the other and spells living in Scotland, England and the States it quickly becomes clear that the character comedian has a deep well from which to draw inspiration...

Ari Shaffir: This is Not Happening

Review
★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Pleasance Dome
11th Aug, 2015

Years ago Ari Shaffir and some of his comedian buddies were sitting around in LA telling stories. It started to become a regular thing, then they did it in front of an audience in the US, then the show got picked up by Comedy Central...

Clare Plested: The Essential Collection

Review
★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Ciao Roma
11th Aug, 2015

Some of the best comic characters out there are likeable but misguided individuals, chronically lacking in self-awareness. Clare Plested has created a strong line-up of personalities with just these traits in her Free Fringe show – and she backs them up with a performance that provides a lot of fun...

Chris Turner: XXV

Many people boast about staring death in the face and laughing, but Chris Turner has a different perspective. The lanky comedian had a good look at the grim reaper ten years ago and it set him on the path to making other people laugh...

Lucie Pohl: Cry Me a Liver

Review
★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Gilded Balloon
10th Aug, 2015

When you boast a cast of characters as diverse as Lucie Pohl’s new act it’s no surprise when the results are so mixed. The New Yorker has created a one-woman sketch show which is short on big laughs but has an impressive central performance and enough variation to keep things interesting...

Chris Stokes: Altruism in Birds

Chris Stokes had a very bad 2014, and on reflection he dealt with it badly. It’s the reason the Fringe regular didn’t make it to Edinburgh last year, but thankfully it’s also the reason he’s back with this new show, a slice of very funny, well crafted stand-up comedy...

Gay Furnish Flirt Coach

Outrageously over-the-top characters, a raucous Edinburgh Fringe audience and lashings of inappropriate advice from a self-styled flirt coach, sexologist and dating guru. It sounds like a sure-fire recipe for success but unfortunately Gay Furnish: Flirt Coach fails to live up to this promise...

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