I can only heartily recommend Fast Fringe without hesitation.
On the night this reviewer stopped in we were treated to no less than twelve comedy acts, with a wide range of styles and skills, and established stand-up and fringe favourite Ed Gamble as our MC for the evening. Given the strict time limits imposed on the acts, it did seem a little odd how leisurely Gamble’s compere sets were, and his patter was a little stilted, with the chatter between him and the audience lasting a little too long and soliciting too few laughs. He is however a likable performer and as the show began proper he hit his stride and relaxed a little. I won’t name each and every act that Gamble introduced, it would be a pointless exercise as the line-up changes daily. Suffice say that the acts ranged from the more traditional stand-up from people like James Farmer and Jessica Fostekew, to stand-up poet Elvis McGonagall, to the hotel room cooking of George Egg, to the very different (and highly impressive) musical stylings of Jess Robinson and Gideon & Hubcap. There’s a handy screen that tells you who you’re watching so that you don’t lose track, and the performers you liked are sure to be outside with a flyer if you like what you see. Likewise, they have a stamp-card style flyer which you can fill and exchange for a free ticket to a show at the Dome, a nice little gimmick.
Seeing such a succession of acts has many positive elements: it’s a reminder of just how mad and varied the Fringe is, you see snippets of people you might otherwise never have heard of, and if the acts are a bit crap, they only have three minutes so it won’t last long. As a result, I can only heartily recommend Fast Fringe without hesitation.
