FESTIVAL COMEDY | Day Planner
Needing laughs from the moment your brekkie has gone down to just before you slip right back into your jammies? Brian Donaldson helps map out your comedy-laden itinerary from early til late 11AM
Bridget Christie She was all set to bring us a show about death and mortality and whatnot, but then Brexit happened. So, behold a brand new show featuring fresh material about the torment she’s been experiencing since 23 June. The Stand, 558 9005, 5–29 Aug (not 15 & 16), 11am, £12 (£10). Dirty White Boys The north / south divide is breached by double act Jack Robertson and Chazz Redhead as their anticipated Fringe sketch debut arrives. Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, 4–20 Aug (not 15), 11.50am, £5 (or Pay What You Want). NOON
Fern Brady After a tremendously successful 2015 Fringe debut, the York- based Scots lass delivers show number two, Male Comedienne, about gender, class and religion. The big stuff, basically. The Stand 2, 558 9005, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 12.10pm, £9 (£8). Preview 4 Aug, £8 (£7). Richard Brown His 2014 Glasgow Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Fringe show, This is Not for You, signalled an intriguing new talent. Let’s see if his new hour enhances that reputation. Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 12.40pm, £5 (£4; or Pay What You Want).
1PM
Doors to Manual Rhiannon Vivian breaks out from the Maydays improv team for a multi-character solo show. Just the Tonic at the Mash House, 226 0000, 8–28 Aug (not 15), 1pm, £5–£6. Previews 4–7 Aug, £5. Ahir Shah A passionate and committed political performer, Shah truly stormed it with last year’s Distant. His new one Machines will no doubt crank up the wry ire to 11. Laughing Horse at Cabaret Voltaire, 247 4704, 4–28 Aug, 1.30pm, free. 2PM
Erin McGathy US performer and podcaster brings us Love You Loudly, a highly personal show about divorce, cakes and despair. Gilded Balloon at the Counting House, 622 6552, 3–29 Aug, 2pm, £5 (or Pay What You Want). Worst Show on the Fringe Quite an enticing title that one, as it introduces us to some acts who have received a thunderous one-star review in their time and seek to show their detractors the error of their reviewing ways. Movement, 226 0000, 6–28 Aug, 2.30pm, free.
3PM
Kill the Beast ‘The League of Gentlemen meets Hammer (horror not MC) as scripted by Roald Dahl’ is how some have pitched this group, and here they launch Don’t Wake the Damp, a parodic 75-minute theatrical tour de force. With some excellent wigs. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug (not 15, 26), 3pm, £10–£12 (£9–£10.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6. Ed Gamble A very talented British comic with a taste for running and appearing in spoof shows about the monarchy (Almost Royal), Gamble is becoming something of a safe Fringe bet. Gilded Balloon at the Counting House, 622 6552, 3–29 Aug, 3.15pm, £5 (or Pay What You Want). 60 THE LIST FESTIVAL 4–11 Aug 2016
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PETE FIRMAN Modern magic stuff from the Middlesbrough conjuror celebrating a decade at the Fringe. He’ll have plenty up his sleeve, both metaphorically and the other way. ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug, 8pm, £11.50–£15 (£10– £13.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £8.50.
4PM
Katherine Ryan ‘TV’s Katherine Ryan’, as she likes to introduce herself on stage these days, has a work-in-progress to lay on us this month. Will be better than most comics’ polished hours, that’s for certain. The Stand 6, 558 9005, 4–13 Aug, 4.05pm, £12 (£11). Olaf Falafel Rolling us his Cheese of Truth, the Swedish comedian (he’s in that nation’s top ten apparently) unveils his winning brand of stupidity. Laughing Horse at City Cafe, 220 0125, 4–28 Aug (not 16), 4.15pm, free. Radio Active Angus Deayton, Helen Atkinson Wood, Philip Pope and Michael Fenton Stevens get Radio Active at the Fringe for the first time in more years than they’d care to remember. Their fictional radio station is open for business once more. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 4.20pm, £12–£15 (£11.50–£13.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6. 5PM
Thrones! The Musical! There’s never a shortage of gags or acolytes to lap up those gags when a Game of Thrones-themed musical dances into town. Happily this is from the Baby Wants Candy lot who know what they’re doing. Assembly George Square Studios, 623 3030, 6–29 Aug, 5pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13). Previews 3–5 Aug, £10. David Mills A catty, chatty and snappy hour of cocktail lounge banter with more acerbic wit than you can shake a pop- cultural reference at. Underbelly George Square, 0844 545 8252, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 5.20pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6. Lewis Schaffer One of the true cults of modern-day Fringeing, this American ‘legendary failure’ insists You Are Beautiful. The hour is probably not as easy-going and carefree as that suggests. Just the Tonic at the Community Project, 0330 220 1212, 4–28 Aug (not 15), 5.35pm, £10 (£8).
6PM
Michael Brunström He’s won a Malcolm Hardee Award for Originality. And that’s probably all you need to know
when deciding whether to pop along or not. Heroes at Dragonfly, 226 0000, 4–13 Aug, 6pm, £5 (or Pay What You Want). Susan Calman We dubbed her ‘the wee lassie with a big future’ back in the 17th century and she is continuing to prove us right, incredibly. Brace yourself for The Calman Before the Storm. Which is a pun. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug, 6.20pm, £10–£14 (£9–£13). Previews 3–5 Aug, £7. Liz Miele With viral hit ‘Feminist Sex Positions’ behind her, New Yorker Miele recalls her journeys through Europe for Mind Over Melee. Which might be a pun, not sure. Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 6.40pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £6. 7PM
Geoff Norcott There will be many post-Brexit comedy routines in town this month, but few will be from the ‘victors’. Norcott brings us his Conswervative views amid the personal story of his upbringing. Underbelly Med Quad, 0844 545 8252, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 7.10pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6. Tommy Tiernan After his improv experiment of last year, the Navan legend comes Out of the Whirlwind with a show which may be more of a scripted variety but should be no less as fluid. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 6–28 Aug (not 12), 7.30pm, £15–£16 (£14–£15). Preview 5 Aug, £9. Paul Currie A Marmite comedian to end them all as the Northern Irishman chucks his particular brand of physical mayhem all over us. Heroes at the Hive, 226 0000, 5–28 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 7.40pm, £5 (or Pay What You Want). 8PM
Shappi Khorsandi The new president of the British Humanist Association gets back to where she belongs and brings us a show about her feelings for her adopted land. The Stand, 558 9005, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 8.30pm, £12 (£10). Preview 3 Aug, £11 (£9). Mark Nelson Quietly doing his thing year after year, the inaugural Scottish Comedian of the Year explores
genuine happiness in a world full of self-obsessives. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 8.45pm, £7.50–£12.50 (£5–£10). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £5. 9PM
Amir Khoshsokhan Plenty of plaudits abound for this rising star and he aims to push all that over the line with Shhhhhh, a show about political and personal manipulations which somehow touches on Nintendo and Tupac. Laughing Horse at Dropkick Murphys, 225 2002, 4–28 Aug, 9pm, free. Kieran Hodgson A comedy award nomination arrived at Hodgson’s door last Fringe for his Lance Armstrong show, but will he keep up that momentum as he delivers an hour about stretching beyond your natural abilities in the pursuit of something amazing? Voodoo Rooms, 226 0000, 6–28 Aug, 9.30pm, free. Garrett Millerick Want an hour that pulls together Eminem, city traders and a ballroom dancer? This one from the highly committed Millerick is bang up your street then. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 9.40pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6.
10PM
Comedians Film Club A different comic each night talks about a movie they love before we then watch it. Simple. But brilliant. Vintage Mobile Cinema, 226 0000, 5–28 Aug, 10pm, £12.50 (£10). Maureen Langan This US broadcaster and stand-up isn’t sure that the advice her parents passed on was exactly spot- on. Here she deconstructs our modern attitudes towards getting ahead in life. The Stand 5, 558 9005, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 10.15pm, £9 (£8). Preview 4 Aug, £8 (£7). Shit-Faced Showtime The folks behind those drunken Shakespeare antics swallow more than just their pride with a boozy production of The Pirates of Penzance. Cheers?! Underbelly Med Quad, 0844 545 8252, 6–29 Aug, 10.45pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£11.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £7.
11PM
The Stand Late Club Two hours of a bunch of top Fringe comics in the ideal comedic setting. The Stand, 558 9005, 5 & 6, 12 & 13, 19 & 20, 26 & 27 Aug, 11.45pm, £15 (£13). Comedy Countdown Comedy and Countdown? Sounds sort-of familiar but we’ll let that one go as this should provide 90 minutes of chaotic fun each time. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 5–13 Aug, 11.59pm, £8. MIDNIGHT
Will Seaward’s Spooky Midnight Ghost Stories III A spooky tale at the witching hour is what Christmas needs, but the Fringe? Indeed so, and Seaward is the man to deliver the chills. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 6–29 Aug (not 10, 15, 20, 22), midnight, £10 (£8.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6. Arielle Dundas Silly but cerebral musings are promised here from this American comic based in the Netherlands. Laughing Horse at Southside Social, 662 0974, 4–28 Aug (not 27), 12.30am, free.
1AM
Late’n’Live And finally, the last word in late-night comedy shows where acts both experienced and less-so roll up for the night(mare) of their stand-up lives. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 6–29 Aug, 1am, £12.50–£16. Preview 5 Aug, £10.