Edinburgh Fringe Dispatch #3
Even more comedy reviews fresh from the Fringe
Hello!
Over and out! I'm home from Edinburgh, feeling slightly revived after sleeping for the normal amount of time at the normal hours, feeling full of admiration for everyone who's put their whole lives into doing shows for a month. What a wild ride. I have seen 69 shows over three weeks (nice). I still need to get my energy back up before I dive into my annual post-Edinburgh rant that you all know and love :) It has been LMAOnaise’s best Fringe, but there’s a lot to do differently next year. More on that next time!
This is the round-up of my last week. If you’re up for the final few days of the Fringe, make sure you see these great shows, as well as all of the others in dispatches #1 and #2, and on the website. A bunch of them have already announced shows post-Fringe as well, so lucky us!
Before that, if you are one of the fantastic people who subscribed over the last few weeks for Edinburgh stuff, please do stick around for the weekly recommendations, videos and extra treats. It’s a year-round thing. Now that this summer is done with, there’s a lot of new things happening that I’d love you to get involved with! Spoiler alert: time to get started on issue two of the newspaper! Yay!
Ok, shows now, and then I can get on with my post-Fringe life.
Stuart Laws Has to be Joking?
Monkey Barrel, The Hive (Hive 2), 16:45
For the duration of Stuart Laws’s show, we’re in a relationship with him. It starts with dating – no small talk, just such classic ice-breakers as “what’s the biggest pig you can imagine?” – all the way through to being dumped?? Sad, but I guess we have to leave the show somehow. Also he’s happily coupled up, as the show charts. Recently confirmed as autistic, he’s figuring out how to navigate this relationship when he’s so used to masking – having spent his adolescence reading books on human behaviour to make sure he does what everyone else is doing. It’s a wonderful, joke-filled, open-hearted show that weaves together Stuart’s silliness and sincerity.
Erika Ehler: I Got Some Dope Ass Memories With People That I'll Never F*ck With Again
Monkey Barrel, The Hive (Hive 2), 18:10
In her fantastically titled show, Erika explores the pain of friendship break-ups, as well as the unexpected loneliness of being in your 20s. I love seeing Erika perform, and this is a much more exposing show than Femcel, her first hour, though in a completely controlled way and always retaining that same wry smile and trademark bite. Hilarious highlights are her dad’s addiction to Honda Civics and his unique way of dealing with raccoons, plus one part of the show (where she talks about going out with a guy who did a nerdy nose flick while flirting) that I’ve seen Erika do a couple of times at mixed bill shows, and still, the delivery of the punchline gets me just as good every time.
Paddy Young: If I Told You I'd Have to Kiss You
Monkey Barrel 4, 19:50
Paddy Young has a bit of the cute aggression about him as he belligerently but sweetly kisses into the mic. It’s this bombastic energy that carries everything through, bounding around like he’s about to explode with all the things he’s dying to tell us. He’s full of longing: for love, for the companionship of more than just a lukewarm hot water bottle, for more work on TV, PLEASE! There are so many fantastic gags in here about XL bullies, guys who drink Huel, and e-bikes, plus my favourite Morrissey impression of all time, that made me keep laughing long after that joke was over. There’s simply no way not to have the time of your life!
Chelsea Birkby: This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky
Just the Tonic at The Caves (Just Out of the Box), 21:20
Someone who is just an absolute joy to be around for an hour is Chelsea Birkby. This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky is a masterful, clever and brilliantly paced show that centres around desire, embodiment and her long-held therapist’s suggestion that she should see someone else. What follows is a fascinating and super funny hour about everything from bipolar disorder to classical art to mindfulness to the Cheeky Girls, all building to a really moving moment of clarity that made me well up while laughing. Chelsea knows how to create and sustain a flow. One of my favourite stand-ups of the Fringe and just in general.
Lou Wall: The Bisexual’s Lament
Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath), 22:20
A shrieking onslaught of memes sets the tone for Lou Wall’s show. Lou has just had the best year of their life, professionally, and the worst year of their life, personally. For a show built around trauma and pain, it lingers on this very little, focusing instead on the list of funny things they made in order to cope with it all: 853 of them, 69 of which they share with us (nice). Brightly-told stories about trying to sell their bed frame on Facebook Marketplace, flashing an elderly man in the hospital, and a particularly evil landlord wind around funny videos and some really clever Powerpoint, showing that laughter will get you through the toughest of times.
Bella Humphries: Square Peg
Just the Tonic at The Mash House (Just the Bottle Room), 18:10
Bella Humphries is another brand new one for me! Having been living in Wales for the past few years until a big life change made her move back in with her parents, she’s here to rage against the label of women being called “hack” for talking about their periods on stage. The Pied Piper of PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), she’s now collecting audiences of people who have been suffering with this condition alone, who have had to explain it to their own doctors, or have spent their whole lives knowing that their periods weren’t normal but couldn’t get any answers because there aren’t any adequate ones! But you don’t need to have experienced those things to enjoy Bella – she’s a ray of sunshine, and talks so passionately about it and why everyone should care. We’ll be seeing more Bella in the future, and I’m looking forward to more people getting to know her!
Sophie Duker: BUT DADDY I LOVE HER
Pleasance Courtyard (Cabaret Bar), 19:00
Sophie knows how to command a room. Her show, about her self-confessed daddy issues, going to therapy with her father, and the embrace of her own delulu (delusion but make it camp), has the audience in the palm of her hand. Highlights come in parts about the regret of asking her friends what her vibe is, a hilarious bit about mistaking the true content of the book “The Body Keeps the Score” on a date, and a song and dance. Sophie’s ability to tease out a story, keep the audience fully hyped throughout, even – or especially – while berating certain people, shows why she’s one of the best stand-ups we have out there right now.
Jordan Brookes: Fontanelle
Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome), 20:30
Jordan Brookes has only gone and written a Titanic musical – or as much of a Titanic musical as he was able – but it’s so much more than that, as he muses on how people respond to mass tragedy. He flops himself around the stage like pizza dough, speaking one moment flat on the floor, another moment reclined on top of the tiniest stool you’ve ever seen. At one point when someone leaves to go to the loo, he repeats every second the guy missed on his return. Fontanelle is such a huge, ambitious undertaking full of surprises, that no one but he could do, let alone this well. It’s his best work yet. Outstanding, truly.
Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything)
Banshee Labyrinth (Chamber Room), 18:05
Rob Copland wants to motivate the audience to be the best audience we can be, far better than yesterday’s audience of course, and he achieves that goal on entering the room. You can’t help but get on his level straight away. He sweeps the whole room up in his energy, running from end to end of the stage, practically bouncing off the walls. He can’t be contained by his pot-washing day job. And he shouldn’t be! Every single element is joyful: I’ve had his delivery of the word “chewy” in my head for days. Equally, I can’t stop picturing him trying to kick himself in the head. Ending the show with an extended, gorgeously conspiratorial finale that has audience members begging to join in is evidence of Rob’s greatness. Top tip: This is a Free Fringe show, so you need to get there early to get a placeholder ticket from the bar before joining the queue. BE THERE EARLY, seriously.
Josh Glanc: Family Man
Monkey Barrel (MB1), 15:20
He’s a family man, he does what he can! I have had that song rattling around my head constantly since seeing Josh Glanc’s show. If anyone can make an audience of silly billies into a family by the end of a show, it’s Josh, with all his jaunt and eager warmth. It’s why people keep coming back to see him: we can’t get enough of his brand of playful nonsense, and there’s always a layer of tenderness resting beneath the surface. He’s constantly snapping pics of the audience with his disposable camera, and I can’t wait to see the collage of photos he’ll have collected by the end of this run, to evidence just how much fun everyone’s been having!
Hannah Platt: Defence Mechanism
Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 2),
Hannah Platt doesn’t like to be vulnerable or sincere. She can’t say “therapy” without putting on a voice. Is there anything as humiliating as genuinely trying at something? But as she says – and it’s as clear as day even through the tough exterior – she loves doing this. Diagnosed with body dysmorphia, her debut hour is about how she is seen and how she sees herself. She’s paranoid that people are laughing at her, making comedy the perfect choice because now she can be absolutely sure they are. She’s no nonsense and precise, cutting through the noise with stinging punchlines and individuality.
Furiozo: Man Looking For Trouble
Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), 21:40
This is one of those shows I saw because so many people were talking about it – they are always my favourites. Furiozo arrives on stage bare-chested and growling. He encourages us to film him as he rages in our faces. Approaching one phone, instead of screaming, he gives it a soft, little kiss. In between the police chases and drug-fuelled nights at the club, the unrelenting cycles of toxic masculinity through generations, Man Looking For Trouble is also about love. The man beneath the mouthguard is sweet and sensitive, always making sure any audience interaction is 100% ok. Furiozo is a man of few words, so hearing him whisper “gluten” to an audience member when offering them cocaine (flour) to rub into their gums, is just so lovely. Such a funny and touching show.
Trygve Wakenshawe: Silly Little Things
Assembly Roxy (Upstairs), 20:15
As if we needed reminding, Trygve Wakenshawe is the absolute best. His style of clowning is as subtle as it is exaggeratedly flamboyant, and the stories he tells with the physicality of his body alone are affecting and hilarious in equal measure. Silly Little Things is about a lonely magician who is freakishly good at card tricks but can’t hold onto an assistant (because he keeps accidentally killing them). The attention to detail is key – the sound effects of the cards as he shuffles, the click of the pen he returns to his top pocket, every small movement – and he guides the audience participation sections with gentle control. I’ve never got to my feet so fast at the end of a show. Beautiful.
Thanks so much for following my Edinburgh Fringe journey. Stay forever! Do not leave me! I am tired and fragile!
Love you,
Zoe x
P.S. Remember the rest of the time I was there as well!
