Rob Auton is one of those performers who refuses to fit neatly into a category. I first encountered him when I nominated him for Dave's Joke Of the Fringe back in 2013. He won* but you'd hardly... more
Reviews
As a popular podcaster, Liam Withnail has a film of the moment his life changed forever. One minute he is chatting with his co-host Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, the next he is staggering around... more
The Dead Dad Show has become an Edinburgh trope – the show a comic makes when he loses his father is rumoured to be a sure-fire way to garner awards. In his show Simon David simultaneously sends... more
Paddy Young has left his home in Scarborough and is trying to make a living as a comic in London. Which means he’s living in a house-share. He has some absolutely brilliant crowd-work... more
Mary O'Connell has a dilemma. She is no fan of the capitalist system but likes nothing better than buying things. The only trouble with the latter is that she doesn't have much money. In her debut... more
I was talking to another critic earlier this week about the popularity in recent years of "origin stories" - young comedians whose debut shows tell their audience who they are, where they come from... more
I was slightly duped into seeing this show. Not by Paul Sinha of course. But somewhere deep in a big pile of virtual press cuttings I'd read that this would be his last ever Edinburgh run. Sinha has... more
I've seen a lot of personal, confessional comedy shows over the years, but this one is different. Very different. As the trigger warning title suggests, it is a show about suicide. But also much more... more
How does Mat Ewins do it? I didn't have a press ticket for this show and just as it was about to start and my pass still hadn't pinged in I was standing in the street trying to get a phone signal and... more
It is appropriate that The Funny Thing About Death is part memoir for Jo Caulfield’s funny, talented, spiky sister Annie and part Jo’s autobiography. For, the way Jo tells it, big sister Annie led... more
