The Definitive Guide to Comedy
*** 1/2 (out of 5) André de Freitas jokes about being Portugal’s biggest export since cork. Then again, did you even know about Portuguese cork? Can you even name another Portuguese stand-up comedian? To be fair, de Freitas doesn’t so much resemble a young Cristiano Ronaldo as he does a …
**** (out of 5) There’s a big difference between Dad energy and Daddy energy, and Sam Lake is only looking for the latter. This isn’t Lake’s Edinburgh Fringe debut, as he was here last year. And yet this hour still has all the feels of a coming-out party of sorts …
**** 1/2 (out of 5) The Fringe boasts several late-night showcases around Edinburgh where comedy fans can find stand-up, burlesque or some combination of the two. None of these variety hours curates chaos quite like Stamptown can. With Zach Zucker presiding as master of ceremonies in character as horrible throwback …
**** (out of 5) Hungry. Horny. Scared. But enough about the walrus that showed up in Paddy Young’s hometown to epically greet his fellow Northerners for New Year’s. This show is about Young’s big debut. He has big dreams, but before detailing them, he needs us to know how condescending …
**** (out of 5) Liam Withnail’s Fringe show last year revolved around the embarrassing moment when he ran the London marathon only to shit his pants. While talking to his funny friends in Edinburgh, Withnail got the sense that they’d all come to Fringe prepared to deliver more emotionally powerful …
**** (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 …
Courtney Pauroso is an LA-based actor, writer and comedian, who traveled the world and the United States as the child of a military family. She co-wrote and appeared in Two Pink Doors, a series of 5-minute shorts for FX, directed by Dr Brown, and has appeared onscreen in projects such …
**** 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 …
