The Definitive Guide to Comedy
**** (out of 5) In 2016 Zoë Coombs Marr won the top prize for best show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and received a nomination at the Edinburgh Fringe as well, for her “Trigger Warning” show that featured Dave, her male alter-ego edgelord hack comedian. Marr had retired the …
**** (out of 5) Captivating, curious, adventurous. Marjolein Robertson may come off as a bit of a hot mess. And not just because she’s from Shetland. But that doesn’t mean Robertson deserves the relationships she has endured. She cleverly entertains us with tales about her real-life misadventures told in reverse …
**** 1/2 (out of 5) “I’ve always been a late bloomer,” Cara Connors says in her Edinburgh Fringe debut. That’s the only logical reason why I hadn’t seen or heard Connors before now. Part Sandra Bernhard, part Kristen Wiig, part intangible undeniable charm, this LA-based comedian by way of Toronto …
**** 1/2 (out of 5) We’ve all heard of Irish Goodbyes, but Irishman Ed Byrne hadn’t. He’s not sure it’s even apt. “Have you ever seen my dad leave the pub?” But that’s not what this show is about, exactly. Although it’s very much about how Ed was forced to …
*** 1/2 (out of 5) Matt Goldich is dry, droll and self-aware. It’s evident even in the title for his Fringe debut, which he also tells us marks his first performances outside the United States. So Goldich can mock himself further for his naivete, not knowing about poster marketing photos …
**** (out of 5) I first saw Emmanuel Sonubi at a Fringe 2022 preview showcase put on by Underbelly, where he told jokes about trying to keep up with current slang. Didn’t think much about it at the time, as I spent a week in Edinburgh last year and only …
*** 1/2 (out of 5) “Who’s going whimsy at this hour? I am!” So declares Paul F. Taylor shortly before midnight in the basement of Monkey Barrel 2. Absurdity may be better appreciated at such a late hour, but Taylor also delves into some very heartfelt bits about his daughter. …
*** 1/2 (out of 5) Sometimes the buzz is a bit much? Sometimes it’s better to experience a debut without any expectations. Because I’d heard plenty of talk beforehand about newcomer John Tothill, from whispers of potential nominations to a testimonial from the stagehand who scanned my QR code that …
**** (out of 5) Kieran Hodgson has written a love letter to Scotland, a big sloppy love letter so Scottish and Gaelic that there’s a big screen alongside the stage providing live closed captioning. He’s a three-time nominee at the Fringe’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and nobody would be surprised if …
*** 1/2 (out of 5) “People forget that you can like boy’s stuff, and also boy’s stuff.” So it is that Emily Walsh has grown up from a tomboy into a Dad Girl who has a husband who’s nice and friendly. Her husband also has become baby crazy. Which presents …
