FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews at a Glance
way of telling stories, and this is a thoughtful, provocative and hilarious show. (Murray Robertson) Just the Tonic at The Tron, until 27 Aug, 10.20pm, £6.50 or Pay What You Want. or dodgy will be a matter of opinion, but the Jewish gags book thrown at him by his father seems to be serving him well. (Brian Donaldson) Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, until 27 Aug (not 22), 1.30pm, free.
GRAHAM DICKSON IS THE NARCISSIST ●●●●● Another of the Austentatious alumni, Dickson has concocted a rapier-sharp debut, a series of darkly comic sketches and character work. The meat of The Narcissist is lampooning the idea of the tortured artist and while unashamedly literary, it’s instantly accessible, and builds towards a manic crescendo that plays out beautifully. (Henry Northmore) Underbelly Cowgate, until 27 Aug, 8.10pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
HARI SRISKANTHA: CLOWN ATLAS ●●●●● Once mistaken for Romesh Ranganathan, Sriskantha is on a dual mission: to ponder the notion of happiness and for people to pronounce his name properly. He’s recently married which gives him plenty to chew on with the former and has a workshop in place for us to get a handle on the latter. Warmly affectionate with some good gags, Sriskantha might soon be a name to look out for (and say properly). (Brian Donaldson) Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, until 27 Aug, 4.45pm, free. IVOR DEMBINA: OLD JEWISH JOKES ●●●●● Among the modern stand-up types in town, there’s a spot of old-school in a pub backroom worth investigating. Whether you conclude that some of Dembina’s material is edgy
Juan Vesuvius
JAMES ADOMIAN: LACKING IN CHARACTER ●●●●● With a more focused set, US act Adomian has a killer show in his armoury, but his material here is a little scattergun. He has an excellent and fresh routine about Trump and is a decent mimic, but a little bit of research into British audiences might have resulted in toning down the alienating namechecking of cultish American figures. (Brian Donaldson) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 9.15pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£11.50).
JENNY COLLIER: FANTASTICAL BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND JEN ●●●●● By the time you’ve left the room you’ll know Collier’s personal ‘downstairs’ habits and health pretty well. She doesn’t hold back but why not, given that plenty male comics do that all the time? Overall her delivery is measured, almost matter of fact, which only serves to emphasise the cheeky bits. (Marissa Burgess) Laughing Horse @ Espionage, until 27 Aug, 5pm, free.
JO CAULFIELD: OLDER. WISER. SMARTER. MEANER. ●●●●● Caulfield doesn’t suffer fools. Instead she gets on stage and tears them gently to bits with her pithy snark and languid disdain, all the while with a twinkle in her eye. She’s a slick and confident (but
54 THE LIST FESTIVAL 17–28 Aug 2017
not arrogant) comedian, but sometimes her mock ‘can’t-be-arsed’ shtick feels a bit too real. (Claire Sawers) The Stand VI, until 27 Aug (not 21), 7.50pm, £10 (£9). JON POINTING: ACT NATURAL ●●●●● Pointing is Cayden Hunter, a self-absorbed, narcissistic acting- class tutor, who takes us through the thespian motions to turn us into actors. The piece is brilliantly performed but almost too precise as it feels like we actually are in an acting class. The parody is too subtle and gags too weak as he tries to find his elusive ‘dandelion’ girl. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 7.15pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).
JUAN VESUVIUS: I AM YOUR DEEJAY ●●●●● To truly understand Juan Vesuvius, you have to think of his show as part music lesson, part club night, with added physical and prop- based comedy and a hint of full-frontal nudity. The creation of Barnie Duncan, his Venezuelan DJ legend provides an educational hour, but also one that’s hugely enjoyable and gleefully surreal in equal measure. (Arusa Qureshi) Assembly George Square Theatre, until 27 Aug, 11pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).
KEIR MCALLISTER: HEY, YOU’RE ONLY COSMIC DUST ●●●●● Some comedians have a weird, magical sixth sense for what’s funny in a story, their antenna twitching at some banal, easily missable detail, then mining it for gold. Sadly, McAllister keeps overtaking the good stuff, and lingering beside the not-so-great elements, though his chat with the crowd lifts some weaker parts of his script. (Claire Sawers) The Stand II, until 27 Aug, 3.50pm, £9 (£8). LOBSTER QUADRILLE: CARABET ●●●●● Carabet is a show of absurd theatre from a Philippe Gaulier-trained trio that is naturally low on traditional jokes and punchlines, but is gripping and disarmingly funny nonetheless. The innovative trio have crafted an hour that’s almost always amusing, and occasionally strikes gold. Those prepared to take leave of reality and get lost for an hour should look no further. (Craig Angus) Laughing Horse at The Newsroom, until 27 Aug, noon, free.
LOYISO GOLA: UNLEARNING ●●●●● To many South Africans, Gola is known for co-creating and anchoring a satirical news show while in his second Fringe hour he’s attempting to ‘unlearn’ some of the thoughts and preconceptions he’s formed in his 34 years. It’s a loose enough structure for him to frame a myriad list of stand-up topics and there are plenty laughs along the way. (Marissa Burgess) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 28 Aug, 9pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). MADDY ANHOLT: HERSELVES ●●●●● There’s little point in denying that Anholt has comic acting in spades
but her multi-character assault here is just too low on decent gags to fly. A predictably delusional reality-TV ‘celeb’ kicks proceedings off while the radio- station cleaning lady who ends up DJ for a day and the agoraphobe trapped in a corner while delivering her podcast work far better. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Med Quad, until 27 Aug, 1.30pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON: RELATIONS ●●●●● It’s refreshing to hear from this Shetland comedian, whose hour of stories about growing up there is raw and genuine. Robertson’s stage presence and narrative style is informal and charming, with the moments of sexually explicit content woven through cleverly. Arguably, the most interesting parts are her thoughts on Shetland’s heritage, and a small venture into politics. (Kenza Marland) Black Market, until 26 Aug, 6.15pm, free.
MICHAEL REDMOND: I WROTE A JOKE IN 1987 ●●●●● Handling hecklers with aplomb must come naturally for someone in the business for 30 years, but each new irritant can pose a different challenge. Thankfully, the heavily moustached Redmond isn’t overly put off his stride and regales us with tales of moving from Dublin to London, and the (fully justified) grudge he holds against the showbiz Pasquales. (Brian Donaldson) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 28 Aug, 6.30pm, £10 (£9). MICHAEL STRANNEY: WELCOME TO BALLYBEG ●●●●● As a representative of the Ballybeg tourist board, Daniel Duffy (Stranney’s alter ego) is here to champion his Northern Irish hometown with a very special video presentation. When the projector predictably fails, he regales us with pride-filled anecdotes about the village, and by the end, we’re all rooting for our small-town hero. (Arusa Qureshi) Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug, 6pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).
NEIL DELAMERE: BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE PENSIONER ●●●●● Framed by the story of how Delamere accompanied his 82-year-old dad on a meals-on-wheels delivery, there are diversions aplenty in the Irish comedian’s show. He constantly appears to get distracted and goes off on tangents, telling us of childhood swimming competitions and feeding alligators for charity as well as a little old Catholic lady shaped like a question mark. (Marissa Burgess) Gilded Balloon at the Museum, until 27 Aug, 9pm, £12.50–£13.50 (£11–£12).
PHIL WANG: KINABALU ●●●●● Wang muses on the realities of being a British East Asian, acknowledging some of the stereotypes present in his family history, mocking white assumptions and skilfully treading the tightrope between race and racism. Many