Out of the Box – 5*****

What’s great about this show is how it’s a great cycle of mini-acts: trick shots, expert circus skills, and playful set pieces that bring utter joy. All of this is driven, somehow, by a brilliantly unassuming and sweet non-verbal … Read More

Dancehall Blues 3.5***

Dancehall Blues, directed and choreographed by David Bolger, transports audiences into a surreal dancehall where dreams and nightmares blur. Two performers, through powerful and precise movement, create an atmosphere that is by turns unsettling, hopeful, and deeply human.

The opening … Read More

Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts 4****

An entertaining hour in the company of vibrant and charasmatic Ayoade Bamgboye proves that a comedy show can be both fast-talking and warmly reflective, a blend of interesting anecdotes and playful invention that paints a picture while keeping the audience … Read More

Alex Stringer: Happy Hour 3.5***

Alex Stringer: Happy Hour is proof that stand-up can be tender, mischievous, and deeply entertaining all at once. From the start she’s chatty, comfortable and quick-witted, with smirks and laughter rippling around the room, as she paints vivid pictures of … Read More

Spy Movie: The Play!   4****

Spy Movie: The Play! brings its riotous mix of parody and farce to a packed Pleasance Above, delivering an hour of high-energy laughs and affectionate skewering of classic spy tropes.

The show starts with … Read More

Carl Donnelly – Another Round 4 ½ ****

Carl Donnelly certainly knows how to entertain an audience. He has a vast array of experiences in doing so and boy is that evident.

He has everyone at ease from the get-go, he is achingly funny, full of jokes and … Read More

Anja Atkinson : She Thinks She’s People – 4****

Anja Atkinson doesn’t so much take the stage at The Stand as commandeer it, striding in with the unruly force of someone who has no time for artifice. A Sunderland native with a voice that cuts through the room like … Read More

Matt and George: Legalise Marinara – 4****

It takes guts to throw your own comedy showcase together at the Fringe. But that’s exactly what Matt Macdonald and George Leeson have done, curating an hour of stand-up that doesn’t just hold its own — it occasionally shows up … Read More

Singin’ I’m No a Billy Jr, He’s a Tim Jr – Young Offenders 4****

Before a single line is spoken, the tone is set like a derby day kick-off. Rob McLean and David Tanner appear on screen like Sky Sports pundits, parsing the stats and stakes of the evening ahead. Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s … Read More

Just To Be Close To You – 3***

In this late-night cabaret of music and comedy, Cam Poter portrays lounge singer Carl Poteraychke.  Crooner from another era, living on the success of his hit “Just To Be Close To You”  There’s a hidden tale throughout that all … Read More