The Definitive Guide to Comedy
I got a note from a reader earlier this year wondering why they couldn’t find any recent stand-up comedy reviews on this site. The short, easy answer: I’ve been busy writing reviews for Decider! I did file a bunch of reviews here in August from the Edinburgh Fringe, where I …
**** (out of 5) This is unlike any clown show I’ve ever seen. Because it’s not exactly clowning. More like buffoonery. There’s a whole lotta buffoonery going on in the small cavern above a meat restaurant on Cowgate after midnight. I still don’t know exactly who or what Mr. Chonkers …
**** (out of 5) Jeremy Elder, Cory Peter Lane, and Hunter Saling have been here before, making their Fringe debut in 2019. Which means this sketch comedy trio from Los Angeles can pack even brighter local UK references into their tightly-packed, fast-paced scenes. Despite possessing individually unique hairstyles and outfits, …
**** (out of 5) The popular podcaster, improviser and storyteller makes his return to the Fringe for the first time in six years. If you haven’t seen him in while, you’ll quickly notice something different about him. The beard, obviously. His midlife crisis, not as noticeable. But Gethard claims that …
***1/2 (out of 5) Plenty of shows at the Fringe have accidental false starts to them, since the headliners must serve as their own opening warm-up acts. But false starts are built into this show from the get-go. Pilkes not only portrays a variety of characters who sit on the …
*** (out of 5) Marathons: Famously not sprints. The 1904 Olympic Marathon was rather infamous, yet might have been all but lost to history, if not for Wikipedia and folks like Nic Sampson to keep the events fresh in the memories for a new generation. As Sampson reminds us, the …
****1/2 (out of 5) Patti Harrison is a woman possessed. By comedy demons. No amount of content trigger warnings can prepare you for the absurdism she channels onstage, whether she’s conjuring up voices such as Bjork or Charli XCX, or opening up seemingly about her mental health and dating struggles. …
**** (out of 5) Is it her accent? Is it her frock? Is it her glasses? Whatever it is, there’s something magnetic about Celya AB that’s draws massive attention to her Fringe debut. She certainly cops to ticking off multiple boxes for industry appeal: French Algerian, bisexual (which she jokes …
***1/2, ****, and ****1/2 (out of 5) (sliding scale applies!) For a moment, it feels quite possible that Jake Cornell and Marcia Belsky’s introduction to their show might be the entire production. But no. This is but the start of a satirical romp roasting performative woke theatre kids, leading into …
**** (out of 5) Voicemails are “dad shit.” But so too was Dunkirk. Soon something you find normal will be. “The relentless march of time comes for us all,” Edwards reminds us. Which might not be that tragic for him, still being only 29. But losing his dad, and his …
