list.co.uk/festival Top Tips | F E S T I VA L C O M E DY
T O P T I P S | W E E K 1
P H O T O : S T E V E U L L A T H O R N E
SUZI RUFFELL: DANCE LIKE EVERYONE’S WATCHING
Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 8.30pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50– £10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Ruffell has made a name for herself turning tragedy and anxiety into big laughs. This year, she is happy. This show answers the question: are all stand-ups at their best when they are miserable? Fingers crossed no.
CANDY GIGI PRESENTS: FRIDAY NIGHT SINNER!
Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 20), 8.35pm, £7 (£6.50). A one- woman, horror-comedy musical about a Jewish, sexually repressed, newly married maniac.
ALICE FRASER: MYTHOS Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 8.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Alice Fraser has been lying to herself. But aren’t we all? In Mythos, she takes on the stories and lies that we tell ourselves about ourselves and each other.
9PM
CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR- BOYD: DREAMBOAT
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. The wee speccy future of Glaswegian stand-up returns to Edinburgh with a brand new hour.
MAT EWINS: ACTUALLY CAN I HAVE EIGHT TICKETS PLEASE?
Just the Tonic at The Caves, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £8–9. Unpredictable shenanigans from prankster Mat Ewins.
TITANIA MCGRATH: MXNIFESTO
Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Radical intersectionalist poet committed to feminism, social justice and armed peaceful protest. As a millennial icon on the forefront of online activism, Titania is uniquely placed to explain to you why you are wrong about everything and how to become truly woke.
TOM BALLARD: ENOUGH Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 13), 9pm, £7–£10 (£6–£9). Preview 1 Aug, £8 (£7). This Australian stand- up spent last year hosting his own late-night satirical TV show, Tonightly with Tom Ballard, and watching the neo-liberal order continue to destroy our collective future. Now he’s written some very funny jokes about all that.
31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 77
PHIL NICHOL Some 13 years after he scooped the first post-Perrier era Edinburgh Comedy Award (depending on who you spoke to that prize was either called The Iffies or The Eddies: either way, oh dear), the Canadian-Scot flings his hyper- energetic self onto the subject of love. A revelation which emerged after his parents celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary has made him question everything he thought about his own vie d’amour. Monkey Barrel, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.
MARK NELSON: BREXIT
PHIL WANG: PHILLY PHILLY JOSIE LONG: TENDER
WOUNDS WANG WANG
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–25 Aug (not 19), 8pm, £12–£14.50 (£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Having barely survived his car exploding on a motorway, Nelson isn’t exactly about to pussyfoot around the political car crashes currently happening. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 8pm, £13 (£12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8. Wang has sold out his entire run in quicksharp time, with a new show about morality and the modern sense of self. Keen an eye out for some extra shows being added.
The Stand, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 8.20pm, £12 (£10). Preview 1 Aug, £6. Three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Josie Long is back with a brand new show for the first time in five years that looks at the mind-bending intensity of new motherhood.