Articles by Beth Kahn

Wedding Band: A Comedy by Charlie Baker

Wedding Band: A Comedy by Charlie Baker

For most people, their wedding is the happiest day of their life. But for the band, it's just another gig. This new play by Charlie Baker - actor, comedian, and winner of 'Let's Dance for Comic Relief' - explores this disparity... 

New Art Club: Quiet Act of Destruction

New Art Club: Quiet Act of Destruction

New Art Club are certainly as good as their word, and over an hour they they recount an elaborate tale which centres around a fierce rivalry between two small, dull villages in Cambridgeshire, and the controversial renaming of their local train station... 

Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen

Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen

Hot Tub is a staple of the New York comedy scene, a quirky variety show hosted by Kurt Braunholer and Kristen Schaal (aka Flight of the Conchord’s deliciously unhinged groupie Mel... 

James Acaster: Amongst Other Things

James Acaster: Amongst Other Things

James Acaster claims to be very excitable, but this claim is not borne out by his laid back delivery and mundane choice of topics. His fine comic turn of phrase and winning manner allow him to derive comedy from some fairly everyday material, like throwing a surprise party for a friend, using the wrong side of a cheese-grater, or putting a pound in a shopping trolley... 

The Quotidian Revue

The Quotidian Revue

Obsession is the unifying theme in this charming but odd show, which considers the unexplored corners of everyday life. James Ward, Lewis Dryburgh, and Peter Fletcher each do two ten-minute slots expressing their fascinations with ostensibly dull topics, and manage to make each strangely hypnotic and engaging... 

The Beta Males: The Train Job

The Beta Males: The Train Job

Following up on last year's break-through hit 'The Bunker,' well turned-out sketch group The Beta Males are back with another energetic escapade. While many sketch shows suffer from a sense of disjointedness between their disparate sketches, The Beta Males cleverly link each scene to a wider overarching narrative... 

John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil: The Behemoth

John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil: The Behemoth

Racist belly buttons. Stool rodeos. The resurrected spirit of a deceased theatre critic. The Behemoth can certainly boast that their comedy goes places that others don't, although this might not be bravery so much as uniquely peculiar imagination... 

The Pajama Men: In the Middle of No One

The Pajama Men: In the Middle of No One

The Pajama Men are impossible to describe, or do justice do, in a review. Two men, in pajamas, run around the stage portraying a mad-cap adventure involving romance, intrigue, betrayal, time-travel and space exploration... 

Francesca Martinez: What the **** is Normal?!

Francesca Martinez: What the **** is Normal?!

Francesca Martinez has Cerebral Palsy, but she prefers to describe herself as 'wobbly’. This is good example of her humorous and positive approach to her her condition, and disability in general... 

Max and Ivan Are Holmes and Watson
BOBBY WINNER

Max and Ivan Are Holmes and Watson

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. And now... Max and Ivan. Sherlock Holmes may be the most-portrayed movie character of all time, but that hasn't stopped this turbo-charged double-act from breathing fresh life into the tale, with spectacular results... 

Totally Tom

Totally Tom

There's no shortage of brash young sketch comedians trying to make their mark at the Fringe, but few avoid the pitfalls and cliches of the genre as successfully as Totally Tom. Their series of original and well-developed sketches feature an array of imaginative ideas and three-dimensional characters, which are portrayed with impressive comic timing and physicality... 

The Gentlemen of Leisure Present: The Death of the Novel

The Gentlemen of Leisure Present: The Death of the Novel

With their smart suits and elaborate PowerPoint presentation, the Gentlemen of Leisure have the air of two eager-to-please, newly qualified teachers trying to pep up an A-level English literature class... 

Tom Bell Begins

Tom Bell Begins

Tom Bell has long been a hit with Fringe audiences with his delightful Free Fringe offerings, and as the frailer half of double-act Tommy and the Weeks. But this summer, be prepared for a gritty reboot of the Tom Bell franchise, as we uncover the formative events that turned him into the Comic Crusader he is today... 

Toby - Lucky

Toby - Lucky

After the success of their Free Fringe show last year, sisters Sarah and Lizzie Daykin - who perform together as Toby - have been picked up by comedy powerhouse The Invisible Dot. But while their act certainly embraces the company's characteristically offbeat innovation and genre subversion, they have a long way to go before they can match the brilliance of stablemates such as Tim Key and Jonny Sweet... 

Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD

Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD

Have you seen, or even heard of, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea? Thom Tuck has. In fact, he's been watching all 54 straight-to-DVD Disney sequels so we don't have to. It`s a common gambit for comedians to set themselves a ludicrous task - hoping to unearth enough material for a Fringe show - and Tuck has hit on a rich vein of whimsy here... 

Beta Males' Picnic in 'The Bunker'

Beta Males' Picnic in 'The Bunker'

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and the last remnants of civilization are living out their days in a bleak underground bunker. The post-apocalyptic genre might seem tired and derivative, but the Beta Males have breathed new life into this familiar premise, creating an utterly brilliant hour of sketch comedy... 

Life of a Lonely Flyerer

Life of a Lonely Flyerer

No matter how annoying you find flyerers on the Royal Mile, even the most exasperated Fringe-goer would probably agree that rounding them up to be slaughtered in death camps is quite a drastic solution... 

Clever Peter: Blood, Sweat & Tears

Clever Peter: Blood, Sweat & Tears

This trio of sketch comedians live up to their name, with a succession of intelligent set-ups and quick-witted punch-lines that keep the audience laughing throughout their high-energy set... 

Chalk Giants

Chalk Giants

This lovely and inventive children’s show explores the myths and legends surrounding giants, from the chalk giants carved into the English landscape, to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk... 

Love Bites

Love Bites

This bewilderingly unpleasant piece of new writing aims to explore our relationships with food, and with each other. It centres around an unsympathetic, dysfunctional couple – the incommunicative and increasingly abusive Stephen, and the insecure and pathetically needy Claire... 

Moment House

Moment House

In this collaboration between American and Hungarian theatre companies, a poignant story unfolds about the turning points and decisive moments that can change a life forever. A multi-generational, international tale is told by four actors in non-linear fashion, following a former Hungarian freedom fighter who emigrates to New York after the revolution of 1956, leaving behind secrets whose revelation has a profound impact on his family years later... 

Jollie: Roger!

Jollie: Roger!

Jollie is the multitalented duo John Biddle and Ollie Birch, and they are at pains to emphasise that they are a huge deal on the story and song circuit. (This insistence is tongue-in-cheek, but doesn’t seem implausible given their impressive musical and theatrical versatility... 

Aberglas

Aberglas

Aberglas is a charming show for children, following the adventures of two girls searching for some books lost by their great-grandfather. They go on a quest to a magical land, encountering a feisty female knight, a scheming elf, some talking squirrels, and a couple of scary monsters - portrayed deftly through puppetry... 

Pete Johansson - Pete's On Earth

Pete Johansson - Pete's On Earth

Pete Johansson warns us that his show will be uncomfortable for anyone who is religious, or has a baby. While I belong to neither category, I still found his stand-up uncomfortable – uncomfortably dull and generally a bit dismal... 

Noise Next Door - Chaos Control

Noise Next Door - Chaos Control

The Noise Next Door are five hyperactive, hypermobile performers, whose lively and unpredictable show is a exemplar of high-quality, high-energy improvised comedy. In a twist on the usual format, they structure their show around the establishment of an agency to fight evil, asking the audience for suggestions regarding their underground lair, the identity of their nemesis, and the format of a secret mission... 

Pappy's: All Business

Pappy's: All Business

In these financially straitened times, Pappy’s are no longer a Fun Club – this year they are All Business, and the show takes the form of a corporate pitch to us, the shareholders/audience... 

David O'Doherty: Somewhere Over the David O'Doherty

David O'Doherty: Somewhere Over the David O'Doherty

David O’Doherty has been going from strength to strength since winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2008, and this show is a total delight. He finds comic potential in an unlikely assortment of topics, from the poignant duet with Shakira that opens the show, to an extended bike repair consultation with the audience, to the closing ‘anthem’ about human failings: We Are Not The Champions... 

Jon Richardson: Don't Happy, Be Worry

Jon Richardson: Don't Happy, Be Worry

For a comedian whose routine revolves around his social awkwardness and general anxiety about life, Jon Richardson is remarkably at ease in front of an audience. Nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award last year, Richardson is an engaging raconteur, and some of his best moments come from his off-the-cuff interactions with the audience, a risky area for many comedians... 

Hans Teeuwen: Smooth and Painful

Hans Teeuwen: Smooth and Painful

It’s difficult to review a performer like Hans Teeuwen, when half the audience are in fits of hysterical laughter, but the other half are looking confused and uneasy – and more than a handful walk out... 

Paul Zerdin - Sponge Fest Revisited

Paul Zerdin - Sponge Fest Revisited

Paul Zerdin is clearly an accomplished ventriloquist. He goes further than the standard trick of making his puppets ‘talk’ without moving his mouth, showing off his voice-throwing tricks by swapping voices with the dummy, speaking out-of-sync, and ‘reading’ the thoughts of the audience... 

Penny Dreadfuls

Penny Dreadfuls

The Penny Dreadfuls are riding high at the moment as one of the Fringe’s most acclaimed sketch troupes, and a revved-up audience whooped and cheered as the trio cartwheeled onto the stage and opened the show with some rather crap acrobatics... 

Nick Mohammed is Mr Swallow

Nick Mohammed is Mr Swallow

'It’s going to be an interesting show!' Nick Mohammed trills as we enter the auditorium, holding up the glass of whisky he just sent an audience member to buy for him. And so it proves... 

Improverts

Improverts

Watching improvised comedy can be a tense experience when the performers aren’t up to scratch – you’re too busy cringing at the awkwardness of every unsuccessful joke to relax and have fun... 

John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From A Murder

John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From A Murder

I’m sitting there, innocently enjoying the show, when John-Luke Roberts points at me and declares that no-one really likes having conversations with me, they only do it so they can perfect their impressions of me... 

And Other Observations

And Other Observations

“How do I describe this place?” is the question at the heart of ‘And Other Observations’. At the start of the piece, the cast hesitantly approach the microphone one by one, struggle to articulate themselves, and back away apologetically... 

Language of Angels

Language of Angels

This assured production of American playwright Naomi Iizuka’s work, written in 2000, is presented by drama students from Pepperdine University in California. The piece revolves around the tragic disappearance of a teenage girl in the cave country of North Carolina, and the devastating effect of this tragedy on her close friendship group... 

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