Gilded Balloon (Billiard Room)

30 July – 1 Aug 19:30 £5

2-5, 8-11, 15-17, 22-24 Aug 19:30 £10 (£9)

6-7, 13-14, 18-21 Aug 19:30 £9.50 (£8.50)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Dolan is a charismatic and engaging comedian, who’s act at the Gilded Balloon this year feels more like a comfortable chat with some friends down the pub than a performance.  He constantly engages with his audience, calling back to previous conversations, and by the end of the show you feel like everyone in the room is an old friend.

Reviewer : Lydia Mason

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)
16:30
Aug 4-11, 13-25
£8.50-£11

Chortle award nominated musical comedian, Rachel Parris (IT Crowd, Thronecast, BBC Radio 4 and Austentatious) delivers a musical comedy of various fictional characters grown from the shinny lights glamour and cringe worthy of characters in Vegas.

We are introduced to an innocent rich boy band member who gives us a rendition of ‘Life’s not easy’… in an upper class home.  A heart-breakingly bad love song and then song for his trooper, mummy! Cheesy pre-recorded Vegas style adverts interject between each character transformation.  Parris portrays a Western Cowgirl who sings about her small minded town of Umbridge. Finally we meet a self obsessed glamorous diva, Fleice, with oh so soft hair, but oh, you can’t touch!  This false pretentious Vega hotel owner attempts an improvisational song and cracks it with cringe worthy taste.  She a self-professed ‘amazing’ iconic singer but with a doubtful view on feminism.

Parris has a great voice and a witty observation of character. Expect power ballads, dramatic moves and a room full of sequin glitter! FOUR STARS

reviewer : Sarah Lewis

30th Jul 2014 – 24th Aug 2014
Bunker Two – Pleasance Courtyard
9:15pm

With a name like Pierre Novellie one imagines a sexy Frenchman wrapped in rolls of toilet paper, but Novellie is not actually French at all.  He was born in South Africa, but raised on the Isle of Man who became the tallest thing on the small island, the main landmark, at 6.4ft! The winner of Amused Moose Laugh Off 2013 and Chortle Award nominee 2014 had the audience doubled over during Saturdays evenings sell out show.  He reached out to the patrons as a friend, creating pleasant banter and making us all feel at ease through his relaxed delivery.  He even gave latecomers short revisions of what they had missed.  It was hard not to warm to his welcoming and engaging demeanor.

During Novellie’s debut Edinburgh show he covered all things from classical British stereotypes, life in London as a South African, the wonders of daytime TV and adverts, a happy lion, murderous treadmill runners, his degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic history and his hate for Maths!  The structure flows effortlessly, with a fast paced and seamless delivery. I do not want to give too much away on this laugh-a-minute show, you simply must go and see this friendly funny chappy yourself! If only for his beaming smile and to discover the literal translation of The Lion King theme tunes lyrics.  This is ultimate feel good comedy and as Time Out claims he’s ‘one to watch’! FOUR STARS

Reviewer – Sarah Lewis

Pleasance Dome (Venue 23)
18:40
Aug 4-12, 14-25
£11-12.50

 
Initially I was sold on this show by the recommendation from the comic legend, Eddie Izzard, ‘FitzHigham is unhinged, completely without hinges’ he claimed.  Well yes, I would have to agree with Eddie here, but that doesn’t make him a funny comic!  Tim FitHigham is totally crazy, but not in a funny way, more in the slightly concerning desperate manic sense! In a mildly entertaining and obsessive search this multi award-winning, Perrier nominated expeditionary ‘comedian’ takes us on an exhausting and painful laberinth of links to his final test.

Renowned as a bit of explorer, FitzHigham enjoys nothing more than tackling challenges and bets. FitzHigham shows us a couple of mysterious letters from an anonymous fan with hidden codes. Throughout the show he grasps at leads and goes on various tangents to find the hidden meaning behind the symbols and text.  We find ourselves looking into the dark history of the Hellfire Club, the only club in world history to be banned by an act of parliament! Unknown to most, Hellfire Club was an 18th-century drinking club devoted to deflowering maidens, drunken debauchery and setting butlers on fire, founded by Sir Francis Dashwood in 1752 – supposedly?!  From Celine Dion lyics to the Illuminiti FitzHigham finally finds what he believes is his quest sent by the mysterious writer… a challenge that will blow everything out of the water! THREE STARS

Reviewer : Sarah Lewis

Abandoman/ Rob Broderick

Underbelly, Bristo square

2 August- 25 August – Time: 21:10~22:10

Prices: £14.00 – 15.00

Rob Broderick made this thrilling & energetic appearance with Hancox and a keyboard player

and drummer. The show is based on improvising songs based on stories from the audience & the subsequent interaction with the crowd was real fun. A worship engineer, an economist, a farmer and an unemployed person were the happy targets. 

His energy on stage makes people interested, & he showed a great ability to engage even with a “shy” crowd. His quick wit and natural talent are what makes his shows special & i was impressed

by how Rob’s improvisations seemed easy and effortless – making him out to be a

brilliant performer.  If you are particularly interested in hip hop/rap, then this show is

ideal for you an  hour of fun that leaves all troubles behind. A show like this is worth

watching and such talent is worth admiring.FIVE STARS

Reviewer: Grace

George Square Theatre

2-25 Aug

14.00

£9-£10

Step into Davina Leonard’s world,a charming and very funny world. A one woman show where she enacts the pit falls of being a struggling, beautiful and talented Wonder Woman of an actress and comedian. Entertaining and captivating. Manipulating her auditions with grace, a grace that can only be shared if you have it. She Has it and is Making It.

For Divine, it was the love scene of Romeo and Juliet, that shed away the pretension that she was anything other than an actress on the rise. Another tiny venue, so book your tickets soon.
FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Udderbelly Pasture, Dairy Room

2nd to 25th August (not 11th)

9:25pm

£10-£11

Felicity Ward has had many successes in her career to date, since first making a break on her native Australia’s comedy scene in sketch show The Ronnie Johns Half Hour in 2005, having received international critical acclaim for the run of her show The Hedgehog Dilemma.

Having heard such good things I had prepared myself for disappointment and perhaps an unpolished performance, being so early on in the festival run, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed! Ward attacked the show with gusto, and quickly made the audience relax, with a mixture of self depreciating stories and hilarious insights into some unusual traditions in her home country Australia mixed with personal experiences about perception and perspective, the theme of her show.

She intelligently trod the line between childish humour and intelligent wit, with many points resonating with the audience judging by the empathetic laughter from the crowd. For those who think they have seen all Ward has to offer and especially those who is often hear saying there is no such thing as a funny female comedian, I highly recommend you let Felicity Ward alter your perspective, she isn’t without surprises and will leave you questioning your own perceptive ability in a charmingly bemused and sharp way. Felicity successfully proves that your first impression of the tip of the Iceberg often belies the truth beneath. FOUR STARS

Reviewer – Antoinette Thirgood