Articles by Sarah Gough

Loren O'Brien: Who?

A cross between the mass appeal of Amy Schumer and the niche quirkiness of Jenna Marbles, Loren O’Brien is trying to work out her own identity. Everyone at school forgot they’d met her, no-one could even remember her name: “Loren isn’t even a name!” she laments...

Ed Gamble: Stampede

Ed Gamble used to be a fat. It’s a shock to us all, as he addresses his audience with a chiselled charisma. The charisma isn’t new however – it’s Ed Gamble’s 11th Fringe, and you can tell...

Alice and the Dream Child

Transforum Theatre’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland sets the Lewis Carroll classic in a mental hospital. This is an intriguing choice from the outset, not least because of Carroll’s widely known drug addiction...

Mothers

Meet Luke (the uptight one), Joshan (the cool one) and Archie (the third one) as they take you forth into a calamitous hour of high-energy skits.The recurring sketch, the lynchpin of the show, is that of the three boys returning to their high school for prize giving, and it is always a welcome lynchpin at that...

Lost Voice Guy: Disability for Dunces Volume Two

“If you don’t laugh at the disabled guy, you are going to hell!” Lee Ridley begins, and immediately inspires unanimous laughter. It’s not often you see a man with cerebral palsy cracking jokes in front of a packed crowd, but Lost Voice Guy (Ridley) does so with ease...

Awakening, Sweet and Sour Sensory Composition

You don a white mask and read a list of instructions upon entering The Space at Jury’s Inn. “If you have any problem during the performance, please quietly leave the space”, you’re told...

Holly Burn: I Am Special

It’s a struggle to review Holly Burn. It’s a struggle to articulate what just happened, who she is, what she does, whether it’s funny, or whether there’s a point to it at all...

Out of Our Father's House

The self-empowerment of interesting American women from history is a dramatic premise that instantly arrests your attention. Unfortunately, Red Compass’ production, in every sense, fails to captivate...

Circleville, Circlevalley

The beauty of a new play, from a new company, is that expectations are at rock bottom. Well, with Circleville, Circlevalley, expectations soon shoot sky high.A drama therapy class led by Ellen (portrayed compassionately by Rebecca Hamilton) encourages its attendants to imagine their own world...

Alice Fraser: The Resistance

You are immediately struck by Alice Fraser’s triumphant gentility as she graces the stage. With a razor-sharp political and social awareness, her polite, assured delivery is no-doubt inspired by her Buddhist upbringing: something that her new show The Resistance focuses on at length...

Abigoliah Schamaun: Post-Coital Confessions

Review
★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Gilded Balloon
25th Aug, 2015

Post-coitus: it’s that intimate moment of openness, where people say weird, wonderful and often brutally honest things. As a vast array of recordings play out from the speakers, Abigoliah Schamaun has people giggling before she’s even set foot onstage...

Stephanie Laing: Nincompoop

Review
★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Cowgatehead
24th Aug, 2015

Stephanie Laing is Chesney Hawkes’ number one fan. Chesney Hawkes – the pop heartthrob of I Am The One And Only fame. Has Laing channelled any of Chesney’s fleeting confidence into her show? No, none of it – but she’s certainly unique in her awkwardness...

Tania Edwards: Electrifying

Review
★★
Edinburgh Fringe
Pleasance Courtyard
24th Aug, 2015

Tania Edwards opens by criticising the elderly. Billed an hour later than last year, she heralds her 4:35pm slot as a game-changer – it immediately attracts a younger audience. A phrase she may later regret when the 13-year-olds have to sit through her pornography section...

Alice Fraser: Savage

Alice Fraser’s kindness immediately hits you like a warm hug: as her audience filter in she’s chatting, pointing out the air conditioning (a small fan that she’s bought herself) and offering up the backstage bathrooms...

Australia: A Whinging Pom's Guide

Review
★
Edinburgh Fringe
Liquid Room Annexe
23rd Aug, 2015

If Dan Willis is targeting the annoying Australian Uncle demographic with his show Australia: A Whinging Pom’s Guide, he’s got it completely spot on.Dan Willis appears to be ‘that Uncle’...

Chicken

In this play, the North/South divide is a reality. Well, if the North includes East Anglia that is. The “separation” is happening: North and South have finally decided to live autonomously...

Sushi Tap Show 2

Review
★★★
Edinburgh Fringe
C venues - C
21st Aug, 2015

Tokyo Tapdoare a company of Japanese tap dancers, percussionists, circus artists. You name it, they can do it. Most importantly of all however, they are crowd pleasers.The energy of this troupe, dressed head-to-toe in hot pink, is brilliantly infectious...

Rhys Nicholson – Forward

You cannot criticise Rhys Nicholson for a lack of clarity. His intentions are made immediately clear: “Get on board the filth train folks, we are making very few stops.” Indeed, if the Australian comic mockingly masturbating in front of an audience member isn’t enough, gags soon drop about abortion and dogging...

The Beau Zeaux: An Improvised Comedy

The Beau Zeaux are impressive in their intensity. In this improvised comedy, solo stints become interwoven narratives before you have the chance to blink. As usual, the audience choose the direction of the show...

Night of My Life

Sketch Club 7 has six members. Five guys and an inflatable girl. The girl, incidentally, manages to provide a brief cameo as Stalin.If that doesn’t spark your interest, the knowledge that this sketch troupe are making their Fringe debut at the tender ages of 16 and 17 might...

James Acaster: Represent

‘I know why you’re here’, James Acaster begins, ‘for the celebrity gossip’. If you are at this show for the celebrity gossip, you will be bitterly disappointed. If you’re there for James Acaster however, for constant quips, absurd tangents and quite a lot of useless trivia about the Chilean miners, you will be ecstatic...

Andrew Ryan: Perfectly Inadequate

According to Andrew Ryan, he is a failure. The laughs he elicits suggest otherwise, of course. Referring to his audience as 'lads', this is quintessential Irish stand-up: charming, anecdotal and fast...

aLOne – Loren O'Brien

It all begins with a suicide threat. Loren O’Brien is all alone. Her sketch partner, Amy, has abandoned her. ‘She was the funny one’, apparently. ‘I can’t do comedy’, she reveals...

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