list.co.uk/festival Reviews at a Glance | FESTIVAL COMEDY
For full length versions of these reviews see list.co.uk/festival Glenn Moore
Aatif Nawaz ●●●●● Nawaz takes issue with the way Islam is portrayed in the media, striking a good balance between in-jokes and over-explaining, making sure that his comedy is accessible to all. Making frequent reference to audience members, his high energy performance style drives a show that can feel a little slight at times but is enjoyable while it lasts. (Suzanne Black) Laughing Horse at the Newsroom, 557 5830, until 28 Aug, 8.45pm, free. Aidan Killian ●●●●● The fast-talking Irishman provides a brief history of banking, starting with Jesus via Abraham Lincoln and Mary Poppins, as well as a fast-paced tour of major whistle blowers, who he describes as his heroes. He’s passionate about his subjects and you’re guaranteed to learn something. (Rowena McIntosh) Heroes at Dragonfly, 226 0000, until 28 Aug (not 17), 7.10pm, £5 or Pay What You Want. Andrea Hubert ●●●●● Giving herself the task of turning a lifetime of depression into a one-hour Fringe show, Hubert points out the inherent difi culty in performing observational comedy from an altered perspective on the world. Her personal recollection of mental illness and recovery dei nitely covers scenarios that will be unfamiliar to some members of the audience, yet her idiosyncratic observations manage to breach the gap of experience. (Suzanne Black) Gilded Balloon at the Counting House, 622 6552, until 29 Aug (not 15 & 16), 3.45pm, £5 or Pay What You Want. Ashley Storrie ●●●●● Storrie’s tales of sexual misadventure take in one-night stands, attempted groping and a lot of frank chat about body parts delivered with intensity and a lot of cussing in her Glasgow accent. Her forthrightness is a tonic and should be mandatory viewing. Make sure you arrive early to gain an extra 15 minutes of material as she welcomes in the crowd. (Suzanne Black) Laughing Horse at the Free Sisters, 622 6801, until 28 Aug, 5.15pm, free. Carl Donnelly ●●●●● Whether he’s discussing his veganism, his new yoga hobby or Kanye West on Twitter, Donnelly has an unerring gift for mining consistent belly laughs. His genuinely cheerful demeanour is infectious and he’s so at ease with the crowd it’s like the stage is his second home. (Murray Robertson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 17), 8.30pm, £8.50–£10 (£7–£9). Chris Davis ●●●●● Ever wondered how many chinchillas it would take to make a coat? Animal-lover Davis is ready to tell you. He meanders through a series of topics, covering sleeping with pillows, the delights of daytime drinking and the mood-boosting power of burgers all in the same laid-back style of a guy that enjoys a beer and doesn’t take life too seriously. (Rowena McIntosh) Laughing Horse at the Cellar Monkey, 221 9759, until 28 Aug, 7.30pm, free. Colum Tyrrell ●●●●● It would be a gross understatement (gross being the operative word) to say that this New York Irishman’s comedy is rough around the edges, but there’s something about this late twentysomething that suggests a new Jim Jefferies in the making. If you enjoy stories about knife-wielding Thai prostitutes and the decreasing quality of a man’s ejaculate while hearing exactly why hipsters could be the new Nazis, Colum Tyrrell is your man. (Brian Donaldson) Just the Tonic at the Tron, 0330 220 1212, until 28 Aug (not 15), 10.20pm, £6 (£5). Daniel Piper ●●●●● This amiably uncool Yorkshire poet and storyteller throws some physical fun into proceedings. In particular, he seems to like a good old i ght scene in the James Bond karate style, even if it happens to be an imaginary parent he’s fending off with a frenzy of choreographed punches. An inoffensive and jolly display of one man’s
talent. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 28 Aug (not 15), 4pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50– £9.50). Danny Deegan ●●●●● By the time he starts with the Scottish stereotypes (tattooed, allergic to books, prone to setting people on i re), and girl crushes (‘she likes footie so it was like going out with a mate, but with boobs!’) things have gone a bit quiet out in the audience. Around the 40-minute mark he explains comedians normally do something now to wake up their crowd, but he’s got nothing. (Claire Sawers) Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, until 28 Aug (not 15), 7.40pm, £5 or Pay What You Want. David Callaghan ●●●●● What Callaghan achieves is another solid Fringe affair which suggests that something stronger is round the corner. His tech-heavy hour(ish) neatly visualises his ideas about the expanse of the universe and how tiny we all are; and yet we should all still i nd something to be ambitious about: thankfully he doesn’t ask us to ‘reach for the stars’. (Brian Donaldson) Just the Tonic at the Mash House, 226 0000, until 28 Aug (not 15), 11.50am, free. David Mills ●●●●● Rather than hiding in a tiny nook behind a black-out curtain in an undignii ed manner, Mills awaits us on stage kicking back on a stool and sporting an immeasurably stylish Mad Men-era suit. Nor does Mills’ ineffable cool end with this opening image, his hour of material this year is certainly an elegant one. (Marissa Burgess) Underbelly George Square, 0844 545 8252, until 28 Aug (not 15), 5.20pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50). Dirty White Boys ●●●●● Sketch show double-act Jack Robertson and Chazz Redhead offer a i nely honed hour on par with Mitchell & Webb’s screen work. The duo employs the entire encyclopaedia of sketch techniques and you should consider it an act of everyday heroism to make sure this show gets the vast audience it deserves. (Suzanne Black) Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, until 20 Aug (not 15), 11.50am, £5 or Pay What You Want. Garrett Millerick ●●●●● Bellowing, ranting and occasionally swigging from miniatures of JD to calm himself down, Millerick has a keen sense of his own failure. He signposts early on that his political stance is ‘unclear’ and his views will meander wildly. In his own words, he’s ‘full of piss and vinegar’, and not happy with many things in our society. (Claire Sawers) Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 15), 9.40pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Glenn Moore ●●●●● Agreeing that he has a voice more attuned to the 19th century, Moore continually wrestles against his stage persona (that of a geeky asexual square), but each time he tries to escape that stranglehold, the tighter its grip becomes. This tension keeps delivering i ne moments and allied to Moore’s ability to concoct delicious gags (or the occasional deliberately awful one that still tastes nice), it’s a giddy mix. (Brian Donaldson) Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, until 28 Aug (not 15), 6pm, £5 or Pay What You Want. Glitch ●●●●● Adorable puppets with potty mouths; what more could you want from a comedy show? In the case of Glitch, the added bonus of a completely new, improvised story each performance adds a sense of uncertainty and excitement to an already creative concept. (Arusa Qureshi) theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 510 2384, until 20 Aug (not 14), 4.50pm, £8 (£6). Good Kids ●●●●● The hen party at the front thought this was a scream. Perhaps that was owing to the two bottles of wine they brought in i ve minutes after the start, or perhaps they were among the few close enough to catch the mumbling of the two boys on stage. To make matters worse the duo spent most of the show mainly sitting down on a low stage to unraked seating, so even lip-reading wouldn’t help. (Craig Naples) Underbelly Med Quad, 0844 545 8252, until 29 Aug (not 16), 9.30pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).
Janey Godley ●●●●● She recently went viral as the lady with the ‘Trump is a cunt’ poster being apprehended by a polis, and Godley has a lot to say about that day in her new show. When she’s making the case for Scottish women over 45 – the premenopausal warriors the world ought to fear – her strength in shouty, strong humour comes to the fore. (Kirstyn Smith) Laughing Horse @ Free Sisters, 622 6801, until 28 Aug, 7pm, free. Kate Lucas ●●●●● Freaked out by an ‘incident’ triggered by consuming too many gins one night in December of last year, musical comedian Lucas takes stock of her life. She’s unafraid to stray near the knuckle with gags about not liking your kid or hoping that her ex’s granny’s health condition would worsen, all delivered with cheeky, eye-glinting glee. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 15), 10.30pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Katia Kvinge ●●●●● Kvinge is half Norwegian, half American, and plays up the contrast, which may help explain why she’s decided to perform two differing shows in one hour. These are the fun, if exhausting, half of impressions, singing and all-out showmanship, and a more intriguing confessional side, with each giving further insight into the other. (Emma Newlands) Gilded Balloon at the Counting House, 622 6552, until 29 Aug (not 16), 3pm, £5 or Pay What You Want. Lee Kyle ●●●●● The show is a mixture of anecdotes, puns, popes and audacious mime. He claims to be too nice to be a punk but likes the idea of a bit of harmless trouble and that sentiment sums up his show. This is companionable, likeable humour shaken up a bit with some off the wall shenanigans and a bit of lying. (Marissa Burgess) The Stand 4, 558 9005, until 20 Aug (not 15), 12.05pm, £8 (£7). Lewis Macleod ●●●●● Stick with the i rst few minutes of this. After riding out some lame gags about sheep shagging, caber tossing and gufi ng, things take a dei nite upswing. Lewis Macleod is a voiceover actor, with a very impressive knack for parroting celebrity voices. His Kirsty Wark is a highlight, as are Trump’s plans to reintroduce the waterboarding of Scottish witches. (Claire Sawers) Frankenstein Pub, 226 0000, until 21 Aug, 6.40pm, free. Liam Withnail ●●●●● While the subject matter of giving up booze feels like the archetypal Fringe show, True Defective actually feels more like a stretched-out club set. This is a perfectly serviceable hour that will tell you little you didn’t already know about the perils of alcohol. (Brian Donaldson) Scottish Comedy Festival at the Beehive Inn, 07768 048165, until 28 Aug (not 15), 5.25pm, free. Liz Miele ●●●●● Miele initially comes across exactly as the straight-talking comedian her straight-outta-Brooklyn background suggests. But the Italian-American soon heads into the taboo-busting territory colonised by Sarah Silverman, ticking off her own observations of racial stereotypes. By the time she gets to material on struggles with her Hasidic landlord, it lacks enough laughs to make what is, at best, niche material into something subversive. (Emma Newlands) Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 28 Aug (not 15), 6.40pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Lola and Jo ●●●●● Work away-days are the nightmares which breathe life into Lola Stephenson and Jo Grifi n’s sketch show set within the auspices of Magnus and Wellington Consultants, with our pair playing dysfunctional hosts who have laid on this day-long catastrophe. These routines are essentially riffs on the vague ideas which emerge from the duo’s less than professional compering duties and at times it’s a little tricky keeping up. (Brian Donaldson) Henry’s Cellar Bar, 226 0000, until 28 Aug (not 16), 3pm, free. 11–18 Aug 2016 THE LIST FESTIVAL 57