**** When you’ve set the bar extremely high where do you go from there? Alex Edelman’s debut Fringe show last year bagged him the Foster’s Best Newcomer Award. So now for the comedy equivalent... more
Reviews
This year’s Edinburgh Fringe seems to be wide open when it comes to awards. Is a newcomer going to win the main Foster’s Award? And if so who? Meanwhile the first major Fringe comedy competition may... more
****Comedians are always on the lookout for experiences that they can turn into an Edinburgh show. For Diane Spencer that inspirational experience was an Edinburgh show in the first place. Power Tool... more
There is so much competition for audiences in Edinburgh it helps to have a unique selling point. In the past, Abnormally Funny People, the floating ensemble made up of comedians with various... more
****In comedy there are people who change and people who hone one particular thing to the point of absolute perfection. John Shuttleworth is one of the latter and so, to a slightly lesser extent, is... more
***I don’t really know journalist Viv Groskop but I do know her writing. It is sharp, funny and well-observed. In recent years she has been developing another string to her bow, adding stand-up... more
*****This picture here is not from the show. It’s what I saw at the entrance to Summerhall. And there was a big queue behind this fan too, all hoping for a spare ticket so that they could sneak into... more
***George Egg is surely not the first cook to appear at the Fringe. Ainsley Harriott probably did Edinburgh as part of his double act The Calypso Twins. But Egg must be the first cook to knock up a... more
This broadcasting network ain’t big enough for two crime-cracking spoofs starring the cream of the current comedy crop. That must be the reason why Top Coppers has taken a while to appear – it was... more
****The sketch show is dead, long live the sketch show. Every year a fresh-faced young troupe pitches up and finds a new way of doing theatrical skits. This year the word on the cobbled Edinburgh... more
