The Definitive Guide to Comedy
⭐⭐⭐⭐ There’s good reason that Margaret Cho has chosen to kick off her Joe’s Pub “artist-in-residence” series this fall in New York City with the hour by Charlene Kaye. Kaye is a rock star in the making, despite her mom’s wishes. So how did “this hot pink disappointment” get here? …
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chloe Radcliffe doesn’t want to have kids, although she does want everyone to fall in love with her, including the two babies for whatever reason in her crowd on the evening I attended her new Fringe hour. And by new, this really is more of a rebranding of her …
⭐⭐⭐⭐ This hour relies on a series of multiple misdirections, which really is the only way to keep a show like this going after the first couple of big reveals. Both of which are forewarned in the official show description: 1) prolonged nudity, and 2) this is a show not …
⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Best Newcomer nominee at the Fringe in 2019, and winner of Taskmaster season 13 in 2022, Sophie Duker has returned to Edinburgh a bit delusional. Or delulu, if you will. How delulu? To a patron, she might decree: “I’d much rather you pissed yourself in your seat than …
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tom Ballard has returned to Edinburgh from Down Under with ever more timely and intransigent opinions to shout at us, this time from the basement of Monkey Barrel 2. Even if it’s only midday. “I’ll be blasting my correct opinions at you in a loud volume,” Ballard warns, but …
⭐⭐⭐½ Alex Hines is prepared to do the most, even if she has the least. “Shooting for production and I landed in a shipping container!” Hines proclaims early in her show in one of the many makeshift stages at the Fringe. But that’s what makes it Fringe, baby?!? The location …
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Through the sheer force of population, India’s numbers are boosting their stand-up comedians to become among the most popular on YouTube. But none of them are as thoroughly Indian nor as thoroughly global as Vir Das, and he has the International Emmy award to prove it. But that award …
⭐⭐⭐½ This is a four-star show in the making. Just not the day I saw it. Let me explain? On my main Edinburgh review page, I’ve aggregated all of my reviews, and also explained my own particular star system, in which 3.5 is reserved for good shows that you can …
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Olga Koch presented a thoroughly enjoyable hour about relationships and turning 30 last year in Edinburgh, but this year’s hour is next level. Koch, a Best Newcomer nominee in 2018, has allowed herself to become at once more vulnerable onstage whilst also coming across both more posh and polished …
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Larry Dean has made the Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist at three previous Fringes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if gets another Best Show nomination in 2024, too. It’s surprising to hear Dean say he hasn’t quite connected with American audiences, because his faculty with voices and his command of …
