The Definitive Guide to Comedy
**** (out of 5) Inside you are two wolves, they say. More like a chimp vs a bonobo, Michelle Brasier says. She brought her more emotionally heavy “Average Bear” show to the Fringe last summer, but this time around, it’s only getting heavy if you’re talking about the bops she …
**** (out of 5) Drew Michael might just have one of the more divisive shows at this year’s Fringe. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone, let alone critics. After all, for his self-titled HBO debut, Michael did away with the audience entirely, which seemed like a much crazier choice pre-pandemic. For his …
*** (out of 5) I cannot tell you yet how well New Jersey translates to old Jersey, the British isle off the coast of France, or to the average festival-goer at Fringe in Edinburgh. What I can tell you is Billy McFarland and Mike Sorrentino achieved just enough worldwide infamy …
**1/2 (out of 5) In Hollywood, sometimes a TV show or movie doesn’t become a hit not because the show or movie itself is bad, but because it’s marketed poorly or the timing is off. This late-night show from Angela Beevers, a Hollywood assistant who while working for Mike Judge …
**** (out of 5) Last year, Chris Turner showed off his improvised comedy freestyle rap skills in a critically-acclaimed Fringe run called “Rap God.” He’ll be on the big stages again in 2024 with another rap showcase. This year, though, Turner has something else in store for audiences in between …
****1/2 (out of 5) I don’t think of Myq Kaplan as an imp, per se. Nor as an imp, person; nor even imperfect, as he suggests in the title of his show. I mean, sure, aren’t we all imperfect? Isn’t any comedy set itself imperfect, too, in the mind of …
***1/2 (out of 5) Maggie Crane is just the type of Masshole to make her older brother’s death all about her. But at least she’s self-aware enough to acknowledge and question it during her Edinburgh Fringe debut, which takes its name from the pre-school program she attended with her brother …
**1/2 (out of 5) NOTE: William Friedkin, director of the classic 1973 horror film, The Exorcist, died on Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 87. I saw Ange Lavoipierre’s show on Sunday in Edinburgh. I’m not trying to infer anything sinister or comedic in the coincidence. But I …
**1/2 (out of 5) If you’re expecting a TED Talk here, then I’ve got good news and bad news for you. This is a talk by a man named Ted, but you won’t learn much of anything in an hour in which he’s told you upfront and in the title …
**** (out of 5) Edinburgh Fringe audiences should be more than familiar with Chris Grace by now. The 50-year-old Chinese-American actor has crossed the pond for several years as a member of the perennially popular musical improv group, Baby Meets Candy, or their myriad of merry musical spin-off shows such …
