Halfway through this likeable but ill-conceived show, Gráinne Maguire recounts an anecdote of her short-lived stint as a primary school teacher. On the last day before Christmas, Maguire recalls, she looked into other teachers’ classrooms to see a winter wonderland of Christmas treats; in her own, a solitary bottle of Fanta, brought by a hopeful parent...
To devotees of Test Match Special, the voice of Henry Blofeld – deep, resonant, quite improbably plummy – is iconic. The inexpressible warmth of his clarion cry – ‘my dear old thing!’ – or the excited first sighting of a number 139 bus on the St John’s Wood Road provoke memories of summers past and winter tours spent clutching an old transistor to the ear...
A public-school Ed Byrne in appearance with the patter of a middle-aged Jack Whitehall, Mark Dolan’s You’re Awesome is a gentle, beguiling hour. The first half of the show treads a familiar path, raising gentle chuckles as Dolan unerringly hits the buttons of the opening night Fringe crowd: supermarket 'finest' ranges; domestic arguments; Alex Salmond’s erotic eyes...
Cricket, as we know, can be an all-consuming passion. For every casual punter who makes his annual pilgrimage to Lords in May, there is another who follows his county week in and week out over the course of a long, arduous, and inevitably rain-splattered Championship season...
Described by its creator Mark Brailsford as the Fringe like it used to be, News Brunch is the latest show in the News Revue tradition. Presenting a mix of song, sketch and satire based on the days news, the show is being developed this year in advance of a full run at next years Fringe...
Chihuahuas always look terrified. Right? Mr Piffles, the true star of this show, certainly does: every time he is introduced by his master Piff the dragon-suited alter ego of John van der Put he trembles as if hed rather be curled up in a slipper backstage...
Twisting one leg around the other in a show of girlish innocence, Pascoes stage presence is that of the coquettish schoolgirl, rambling aimlessly whilst making puppy dog eyes at her latest beau...
It is impossible not to warm to The Aspidistras. Combating the perils of a lunchtime slot with coffee and croissants sets the show on a promising footing, and the caffeinated goodwill of an unjaded audience is easily tapped...
This isnt, Helen Arney tells us at the outset, a high-energy show. After a curiously tentative beginning, as both Arney and the audience take time to warm up, Songs for Modern Loving is instead a whimsical wander through the minefield of love...
Some partnerships are thrown together at the whim of agents and producers; others seem to fit like Siamese twins of the comedic arts. Shirley & Shirley are Pascale Wilson and Joanna Carolan, two talented comedians who complement each other perfectly...
At some stage in the rehearsal process for this misguided venture, some bright spark decided to site a desk lamp on stage. Not competing with the stage lights, you understand a 100W bulb would strive rather ineffectively to add its weight to the cause but pointing towards the audience...
Overheard at C Soco: Id like to see Your Mum but only if theres room. An unpromising box office exchange, perhaps, but the title obscures a fine show. Siobhan OHagan, Jennifer Moon and Harriet Fisher who, they tell us in their programme notes, met at drama school and bonded over their love of Alison Steadman form a fine comic troupe...
It is much to Miles Jupps credit that, at no stage in this terrific show, does he venture a pun on the Wankhede Stadium. Infamously irresistible to the cast of Test Match Special, the easy lure of Mumbais premier comedy goldmine proved an untapped seam in Jupps Indian tale...
In this remarkable one-woman show, Karin de le Penha plays Emily, the author of this autobiographical piece. The Fly in the Fridge tells Emilys story of her easy slide into drugs and prostitution, a victim of the seedier side of the Sixties subculture in New York City, and of her struggle to reclaim the woman subsumed by addiction...
In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls...
Close-up magic is a tricky act to sell. For every stadium-rocker magic act, sawing glamorous women in half, there is a magician who relies on sleight of hand and twists of fate. The close attention this demands of an audience is virtually impossible in a large room, as the subtleties of card and coin tricks get lost amongst the crowd...
Phil Cornwell is a frighteningly talented man. Best known as the star of Dead Ringers and Stella Street, Cornwell has a quite astonishing impressionistic verve, veering from footballers to rock stars by way of Alan Rickmans laugh...
Full disclosure: I was dreading this show. With a host of stand-ups and sketch troupes competing for my attention, was I really going to spend an hour listening to a desperate middle-aged woman expound upon her dismal dating failures? Fuller disclosure: I was wrong...
Behind The Truth is an endearing but frustrating show. Throughout, there are glimmers of invention, and the better sketches are played with a lusty commitment. A knowing take on Deal Or No Deal, featuring Schrödingers Cat, is witty and original, and the catchphrase not in front of a lady is well conceived and executed...
Its all too easy and all too dangerous to dismiss the Free Fringe. A quick flick through the Festival programme, and your eye naturally alights on the household names in the grandstand venues...
Bud Take The Wheel is the new play from Clara Brennan. Acclaimed in 2008 for her short play Rain, Brennan is a ferociously talented writer, here blending themes of violence, jealousy and generational conflict with a keen ear for the rhythms of familial dialogue...
Jack Whitehall is a man on top of his game. Fearlessly confident, Whitehall holds the audience in the palm of his hand, toying gently before delivering punchline after punchline. Middle-class comedy is a tough act to pull off: social-climbing parents and public school bullying can be dangerous territory with a tough crowd, but the Edinburgh audience holds no alarms...
Ava Vidal was first on my list for this years Fringe. After her breakout set on Michael Macintyres Comedy Roadshow, former prison officer Vidals reputation has grown swiftly, giving her a platform to make the leap from promising newcomer to established star of the comedy firmament...
Holly Burns new show is a rip-roaring hour of delicious madness. Following on the heels of last years At Home With Holly, Living and Dying is surreal, hilarious fun. Burn has an infectious energy and an irresistible charm that gives her all the licence she needs to experiment wildly...
Fancy a Threesome, the vehicle for three different and complementary stand-ups, is a peculiarly apposite name. Jim Campbell, self-confessed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall lookalike, is responsible for the comedy foreplay, and he handles the audience adroitly, pressing all the right buttons to get the humour juices flowing...
Waiting for Lefty begins in medias res. Even as we wait in the rain, we are privy to the arguments of a group of cabbies contemplating a strike. As they return from a break in negotiations, we follow them into their union meeting to find ourselves sitting amongst them as discussions continue...
There is an enormous amount to like about Inglorious Stereo. Paul Putner and Glen Richardson owe much as they acknowledge to the Two Ronnies, and their admirably shambolic hour of musical comedy sits firmly in the knockabout tradition of the old English variety show...
From bizarre eccentricity to deadpan mundanity, character comedy comes in many guises. Perhaps more than any other routine, the solo character comic has enormous scope to stamp their own unique imprint on the genre...
David Tennant and Robert Peston walk into a bar. They get chatting. They have a few drinks. They get along. Stuff happens. Some months later, Colin Hoult is born. An alluring explanation, perhaps, but even such illustrious parentage couldnt explain the sheer invention of this terrific show...
Written, directed and performed by Edinburgh University students, Wild Allegations centres on Matthew John Curtis, adored actor to his fans, liar, cheat and fraud to his brother and girlfriend...