The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Edinburgh Fringe: Comedy highlights
Various venues, throughout August
Whether you’re flicking through the Fringe programme or working your way across the various online listing platforms, the wealth of choice available for your afternoon or evening’s entertainment in Edinburgh can seem almost overpowering.
Is there really such a thing as a surefire hit? The following comedy acts are as close as you can get.
Edinburgh-based Irishman Dylan Moran was the youngest winner of the Perrier Award in 1996 and over the course of two decades his reputation as one of the most idiosyncratic talents on these shores has continued to grow.
With Dr Cosmos, he will be indulging us in his own semi-surrealistic slant on the state of the planet.
As usual, America is well represented at the Fringe, with London-based Deep South comic Reginald D Hunter celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first Edinburgh appearance with another firebrand hour of challenging stand-up.
You might recognise Janeane Garofalo from such TV programmes as The Larry Sanders Show, 24 and The West Wing but her opinions get a freer rein when she takes to the stage with Put A Pin In That. The chances of her not taking on the man in the White House seem virtually zero.
The ultimate hit-and-miss comedy genre has to be improv but you’re in very safe hands with Paul Merton’s Impro Chums, an ad-libbing institution that also features his wife Suki Webster and Whose Line Is It Anyway guys Mike Mcshane and Richard Vranch.
Another of the Whose Line alumni will be in town, as Tony Slattery’s Crimes Against Improv shows the cheeky scamp still has it.
If a little bit of magic is your thing, put your money on Pete Firman. The Middlesbrough conjuror brings us some Marvels that will simultaneously make your eyes water and jaw drop, while Scottish mind-reader Colin Cloud will have you spending weeks working out how he manages to get inside our head.
Top-notch mimics Rory Bremner and Jan Ravens combine their talents for a heavyweight look at the political landscape, while Nina Conti appears to have finally succumbed to the wiles of her own dummy as Monkey and Nina seemingly become one.
Russell Howard is one of the comedians to have done more than most in bringing stand-up comedy to a younger audience and here he treats fans to a work-in-progress show.
On the face of it, a more serious vein will be followed by Ruby Wax, who will tackle mental health issues and mindfulness in Frazzled, while this year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner, Lost Voice Guy (aka Lee Ridley) will show being disabled doesn’t (and shouldn’t) mean you’re an inspiration to everyone.