Beyond The Joke

Terry Alderton has had one of the most varied careers in stand-up. He's done mainstream, shiny-floored primetime TV, been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award and, most recently, has evolved into one of the most intriguing, exciting, unpredictable live performers on the circuit, doing his act and playing a demonic alter ego commenting on his act at the same time. He's a one-off and really has to be seen. You can, however, also listen to Terry Alderton.

Everyone must surely know Mitch Benn by now. It feels as if he has doing topical songs on The Now Show since we last had a genuinely left wing government. The Liverpool-born Beatles obsessive, sorry, enthusiast, is also a regular visitor to the Edinburgh Fringe and returns this year with That Was The Future, his look at “where we are going, where we thought we were going, and what happens when we get there”. So you can probably expect some politics, some music and possibly some talk about three-course Sunday lunches in pill form.

Freestival, one of the Edinburgh Fringe’s free festivals, has confirmed that it has secured a new major performance space for the forthcoming festival. Events will take place at the New Waverley Arches.

The venue will host up to 40 free shows on four stages every day during the Fringe in the arches underneath Jeffrey Street, which forms part of the New Waverley development currently being constructed in the city’s Old Town.

It is never easy being the last act on the bill in a comedy competition, but Steve Bugeja won the BBC Radio New Comedy Award in 2013 when he closed the show. His performance was so striking he felt like a headlining act rather than another competitor. He is not doing anything particularly radical, his neurotic style is geeky in a self-mocking Mark Watsonish way, but Bugeja showed a maturity and confidence that clearly impressed the judges.