The Stand 2
21st – 30th
16.50
£6 – £8

This is the maverick of comedy John Scott, born and breed as a Edinburgh lad, he brings his show “Dissent” north of the border for the Fringe. Being a favourite of The Stand Comedy club, John is always talked about as the one to look out for..  John delivers a thunderous array of political jokes that are told in that fashion that has long been lost in stand up.  The show starts with a voice over , allowing us an insight as to what the show may contain….

With a pair of braces and  hair like a homeless Bee Gee (as John himself would put it), the show starts with a big applause from the audience..  John is story telling comedian that has crafted his show well, you can tell he has taken his time to research his topics for our benefit …  He is a honest and direct comedian with no thrills attached. Using that all important thread that holds his jokes and show together John takes us on a journey of side splitting jokes, laughter and brings the reality of modern day life into the places will would rather avoid talking about..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pkNx-MrStQ

John also takes on the task of covering subjects that a lot of comedians would rather avoid , with jokes about race, well known figures of the establishment and class.  He does this with such grace and style the audience can only respond with genuine laughter.  This is a comedian that is not sacred to speak his mind and allows us (the audience) to participate in matters of importance that are turned into the hilarious show that is Dissent !!! Step up John Scott and move on Jack Whitehall, you”ve had your day Jacky boy.  Time for real comedy to get back to its roots..  Stand Up is a truly difficult game to get into and should be worked hard for, which I can see that John Scott has done with years of experience behind him, it won”t be long before he gets the break he deserves…  A great all round show which ended in a big cheer !!!!  Well done John Scott, a true marvel of stand up comedy… FIVE STARS

*****

Reviewer : Spud

Assembly George Sq

6-30th Aug

18.30

£12

Three brainiacs; Helen Arney, Steve Mould and Matt Parker, bring to us a tremendously silly, and all at once, highly intellectual performance which can prove to any sceptic that maths and science are actually very fun subjects! I am not someone who has spent a lot of time in lecture theatre’s, but I certainly wouldn’t have imagined one to be teaching an hour of charts, plots and diagrams and getting relentless laughs from the spectators. If high school maths and science is the metaphorical equivalent of brown tweed, this show is the equivalent of rainbow tartan!

Some of the content is aimed at young people and some at very highly educated academic professionals. There will be bits you understand fully, parts which will teach you something new or remind you of boring stuff you learned years ago but easily forgot because of the lack of colour in the teaching, and there are likely to be occasional parts which will blow strait over your head unless you have a degree in physics or a masters in maths.

The show is bustling with brain teasing excellence; fun with fire, singing and super awesome experiments with enough wit you make you doubt their credentials. (Apart from the likes of Dara O’Brien and a few others, stereotypes don’t usually point in favour of nerds also being hilarious.) From human speaker cables to magic math squares, this show is brilliant for anyone with an interest in the science world. You are bound to leave slightly brighter than when you came in, whether that be because you learned something new, or because the nerd-ilicious trio just cheered you right up! Dizzyingly dynamic and fundamentally useful comedy! FIVE STARS

Reviewer : Bobbi McKenzie

The Mash House

August 21-30

15:20

*****

There’s one word to describe this show: Playful. Surely inspired by Thing 1 and Thing 2 from   Dr Seuss’s Cat in the Hat (“fun that is funny”), The Kagools–a pair of DIY Ninjas– run, jump, dance, fight, bicker (silently) and generally cause hysterical mayhem for the full hour. The Kagools are engaging from the off–a fist in the air, a few shapes, a blast of chirpy retro 70’s sounds and the audience decide: a roar goes up and we’re treated to some wonderful dancing eyebrows and the sound of salt-N-Peppa’s Push It. The retro music continues throughout the show—Chariots of Fire/I will always love you amongst many others–to move the narrative on and give rhythm to the comedy

The comedy is physical and facial. The kagools have great faces: sometimes silly for the sake of it-cross-your-eyes and hope to die; mock come-ons to the front row; petulance when arguing over sweets; but there’s a full range to illustrate every sketch-I loved their faces and so did everyone else. The fun is also developed through an interactive screen used creatively to enhance the physical comedy—impossible, gravity defying contortions; diving deep to save the drowning bear–it works brilliantly, and in a way the interactive screen is a modern update of many of the old classic silent comedies I remember watching in black and white on telly as a child: I’m certainly laughing just as hard now as I did then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyuOWfpH1dw

The show includes audience participation-and I found myself doing some moves I really shouldn’t have–much to the amusement of my 16 year old–and later to be posted on Facebook! However, one really lucky audience member got to eat a half-eaten chocolate bar, while the audience member dressed as a bear brought the show to its interactive crescendo–including a striptease and a water pistol fight—great fun. As I said—playful—they’ve got the keys to the sweet shop and we walked down the alley wet, feeling good and laughing. A brilliant show. FIVE STARS

*****

Reviewer : Paul Rivers

The Boards @ The Playhouse
 8th  – 29th August – 20:30
 £8 – £10.00

Winston Spear is a comedian from Canada whom was voted number one in the Canadian Comedy Awards for best stand up… so he would have come to his first stint at the Edinburgh Fringe with some confidence.  A wacky, unique and obscure individual, Winston embeds a strange, but interesting mime dance routine into his act.  His show starts with Winston on the Grand Piano, quickly informing us he can’t play the damned thing – or actually sing for that matter. From this funny start he appeared to float onto the stage with a Michael Jackson shuffle, moon-walking his way through endless facial expressions that had me in stitches…….

Next came the real body of the performance – a series of one-liner jokes which were funny in themselves but lacked that thread to held them all together. Winston is a winner with mime, for sure, & for me his quirky routines should remain the centre pieces of his show.  With appearances on Canadian TV and some film to his name Winston has had an active past & faces a promising future. Perched high in the Edinburgh Playhouse, seems a secret addition to the Fringe, but is worth definitely worth seeking out… Good show Winston!!! THREE STARS

Reviewer : Spud

Cowgatehead

8th-29th

12:30

Free (£5 donation gets a book of haiku)

****

Probably a cold

But according to Google

Hepatitis B

I think every lad I know would love to have James Bran as a pal – he just fits in with everyone, & when his comedy mojo is working its proper well funny. Somewhere in his mid-twenties (I presume), he has already gained an excellent calmness to the delivery of his material, which is placed somewhere between Quirksville & Southend-on-Sea. His show begins with a pleasant pre-amble, warning us of his twenty minute amnesty window when folk are free to leave without hassle, & also of how to treat any latecomers in the room – one is invited to turn around & give them a menacing, miserable look.

After these very pleasant pleasantries, Bran takes on a journey through his hilarious dream diaries, the invisible badminton of the show’s title, & the endorphin-inducing rush of tossing table-tennis balls at the wee basketball hoop set on his head (hasketball). Interspersed through these mighty comic highs are a series of hilarious haiku which he barks out to the audience as if he were Spike Milligan chortling through his limericks. The comedy that Bran manages to eke out of these syllabic brieflings of poetic brevity is amazing, as the following sample should reflect;

****

Condom in a hedge

Beside them owner’s knickers

Welcome to Stockport

Lockless bathroom door

The best case scenario

You catch me flossing

Snuck into the loos

We had a little fumble

Then she took a shit

****

The twenty minute amnesty window passed without  a hitch, followed not long after by the pre-foreseen arrival of latecomers, who Bran, differing form his normal modus operandi, yelled at to ‘Get Out!’ From here on in, Bran managed to maintain his high level of hilarity, & if anyone is on the lunch break between 12-30 & 1-30, or just starting out in the festivities, there is no better place than in the warm & fuzzy feltlands of Bran’s mind.  FOUR STARS

****

Reviewer : Damo Bullen