Don’t Trust Salmon – Fin

3 stars *** In a small stuffy basement theatre space a small audience gathered to giggle at a series of sketches unlinked to each other and mostly not about salmon (or fins). Highlights, for me, included the one about Tolstoy and the very hungry caterpillar, the one about the visiting Christians and (my favourite) the [...]

Chris Mayo’s Panic Attack

4 stars **** This gentleman describes himself as a forty-year old man in the body of a twelve year old gymnast, but the thing which really struck me as I watched his gestures emphasise his words, is that he has extraordinarily long fingers. And he’s really funny. I wasn’t going to see this show, but [...]

Matt Green:-Too Much Information

4 Stars **** I have been watching Matt Green perform since 1999, yes 12 years so how come he doesn’t look a day older than then? What ever the reason he is still turning out funny and entertaining shows and still packing out venues where ever he appears. The world is full of methods of [...]

Cul-De-Sac

4 Stars **** Dictatorship can exist in many settings but in a quiet, seemingly respectable, English upper-middle class cul-de-sac? Unlikely would be the answer. However, where there is expected conformity and for those unwilling to conform, any resulting intimidation can have the emergence of a dictator as a possible outcome. These are the themes which [...]

Free Run

5 Stars ***** The ensemble 3RUN come to the Fringe with much hype and expectation – millions of YouTube hits, world records and the first staging of this street art form in the UK. There is also the promise of ‘spectacular entertainment’. Is that promise delivered? The answer is emphatically yes. Eight performers, 7 guys [...]

Roar

4 Stars **** Part hilarious farce, part historical costume drama, part drawing on the tradition of Greek tragedy and part musical theatre, the whole mix of styles in Roar works wonderfully well. Set in the 17th Century London, the basic story is the conflict between the pleasure-seeking Moll Cutpurse who is leading a revolt against [...]

Carey Marx: Laziness and Stuff

5 Stars ***** I’m willing to bet that if a straw poll was taken amongst his peers for the funniest comedian Carey Marx would come out very near the top, so why is it that he is not a household name? He won the major award, Best International Show inNew Zealandin 2009 and repeated this [...]

Splendid Isolation

5 Stars ***** Nick Ward’s play is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness and Outpost of Progress by Joseph Conrad. Ward’s piece uses the Conrad material to excellent effect, an almost abstract and at times darkly comic experience of madness. Johnnie Duval as Carlier and Peter Tate as Kayerts excellently build a fascinating relationship during [...]