Dust off those earplugs, Dan Tiernan (Monkey Barrel, four stars) is back in town. The comedian with the most ear-piercing scream in the business returns with his latest life update. He thinks he may have found the secret of contentment. The answer is crystals, which he now avidly collects. Not that this new hobby stops him from shouting at the audience like a banshee when the mood takes him.

 

Tiernan hasn't entirely changed then. He still has a low opinion of himself. He recently had an eye test and was told he needs glasses – as if, he suggests, he wasn't totally unattractive already. He might have difficulty forming relationships with people but he has a loving commitment to his box of rocks that he says have a calming effect on him - not that you can tell from the show, which boasts plenty of trademark paint-stripping Tiernan rants. A unique persona, some great gags and even an emotional undertow make this a superb show. 

 

Sami Abu Wardeh's Fringe 2026 is a debut that isn't quite a debut. He's done clown shows before but this is his first stand-up show and it so strong it you wonder why he has been falling about and fooling about clowning all these years when he could have been telling cracking gags. In Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You (Pleasance Courtyard, four stars) he tells his colourful complex origin story, mixing large belly laughs (85%) with hard-hitting politics (15%).

 

He's certainly got a striking hinterland. His parents are Palestinian and Liverpudlian, he moved from Kuwait to a council estate in London (falling in love with forbidden meatballs). His family relocated to Dubai but were certainly not rich (like being at Chessington World of Adventure but not being able to go on the rides). He first encountered racism at school and his set is a passionate diatribe about divisiveness. And a very funny one, painfully so when he merges his own story with thoughts about Israel's actions. It largely works though because Abu Wardeh is such a charismatic performer.

 

Andrew White certainly makes a splash in his sparkly trousers and lengthy earrings. And his story makes a splash too. What A Life! (Monkey Barrel, four stars) fits loosely into the 'dead dad' format, though in this case it's a dead mum, dead granddad and also a fellow deceased comedian (deaths come in threes in his family he explains). But White wants to celebrate their lives and he certainly succeeds in a show about lives well lived. It's definitely not a sad show though, the comedy is foregrounded at all times, particularly when telling stories of his early gigs in Salisbury with the local jester. 

 

White's mother sounds like a formidable character, but then so is her son. He's also clearly a born performer. There's footage of him at an event as a pre-teen where he is gripping the mic tightly and forcing his mum to do karaoke with him. He also pays tribute to his grandfather, a musician who played at the Queen's coronation and then died the day before Charles was crowned, maybe because he wasn't invited to play.

 

White also honours comic and friend Gareth Richards, who was killed in a car crash in 2023. A nice running gag is White's obsession with winning petty grievances such as fighting parking tickets – and he's got the emails with Barnet council to prove it. It's probably what his mother would have wanted.

 

Irish comedian Marty Gleeson is making her full-length debut this year and it's an impressive one (Pleasance Courtyard, three stars). Gleeson explains that she comes from Limerick, the home of Richard Harris, Terry Wogan and the, erm, limerick. Gleeson has a gloriously whimsical streak, pretending that she has arrived at the gig from the future and has done this particular gig many times already.

At times her flights of fancy reminded me of David O'Doherty, but she also has a very strong streak of originality. She studied at art school and has a memorable line about the difference between Irish art school and fancy London art school (it's all about horses – we get to see some of her strange art). Sometimes she is remarkably daring, pushing the comedy to the very edge. One joke about an Irish newsreader staying in his seat between broadcasts tested audience patience to its absolute limits. Another riff involved her shaking the hand of everyone in the audience. I'm not sure how she would manage that in bigger venues which, judging by this calling card, she is sure to be playing soon. 

 

Edinburgh Fringe has stand-ups gigging in every crevice but there are different shows too. Peter Michael Marino’s Planet of the Grapes (Pleasance Courtyard, four stars) does exactly what it says on the tin. It tells the story of the original planet of the Apes movie through the medium of puppets made out of grapes. It's not the first ever attempt to remake a movie classic without actual humans – Adam and Joe's Lego Star Wars springs to mind – but it's full of charm and playful humour. 

 

It might help if you know the original film and I felt that they slightly underplayed the famous ending with a throwaway gag but maybe that's just me being a stickler for authenticity. It's a lunchtime show and I can't think of a better way to start the day. Make sure you get a seat close to the front though – this turns a Hollywood blockbuster into intimate puppet theatre. A Fringe gem in miniature.