Comedy
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Kathy Maniura: Cycling Man at Attic Pleasance Courtyard – ‘incredibly vivid and deeply silly’
Like a lot of my Fringe calendar, Kathy Maniura’s character comedy show, ‘Cycling Man,’ came recommended to me from the Instagram stories of Lorna Rose Treen, who is doing a sterling job of using her large following to platform some of the more bonkers comedy on offer. Like almost all of the shows I saw, I knew absolutely nothing about Maniura when I walked in.
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Alice Cockayne: Licensed. Professional. Qualified. Trained at Pleasance Courtyard – ‘a surreal dream’
After a review-less break in the balmy waters of Rajiv Karia’s show – in which I truly did not know what to do with my hands without a pen and a notebook – we returned to the same room at the Pleasance Courtyard for Alice Cockayne’s show. Cockayne is a working-class, Northern character comedian, who appears on and writes for Lorna Rose Treen’s brilliant Radio 4 show, Time of The Week.
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Alice-India: See You In Hell at Underbelly Bristo Square review – ‘casual, fun and effortless’
I last saw Alice-India perform at the (sadly) now-deceased Cowgirl Comedy in Bristol several years ago. She headlined a weird but fun show (also featuring an embryonic Sam Williams), and had a compellingly relaxed and confessional presence, so I was intrigued to see how her material and persona had developed. Fast-forward to 2025 and she’s debuting, with a show called ‘See You in Hell.’
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Laura Davis: Despair Is Beneath Us at Monkey Barrel review – ‘whimsical and brilliant’
I knew absolutely nothing about Laura Davis before walking into their show, Despair Is Beneath Us, other than they’re being Australian. They start from the audience, chatting their way onto the stage, and have the immediate ease that twenty years in comedy give a performer, instantly coming across assured and charming (even before most of the audience can see them).
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Just The Two Of Us at Cellar Pleasance Courtyard – ‘radiant chemistry and charisma’
Feeling somewhat tired from being woken up repeatedly by an extremely chatty field of sheep in the Lake District, I arrived at Edinburgh Waverly relieved to have finally made it. Then after lunch, picking up my press pass, dropping off my stuff and getting ready to go out again, I discovered I was in fact running twenty minutes late for my first show.
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‘This Is Your Musical’ ft. Chris Grace at The Bristol Improv Theatre review – ‘relentlessly good fun’
I would like to state for the record that I did not intend to pursue Chris Grace around Bristol. I was researching my review for his solo show ‘Sardines,’ absent-mindedly wondering why he happened to be in Bristol, and discovered he was here for a few days – performing ‘Sardines,’ but also teaching a musical theatre improv workshop and performing with ‘This Is Your Musical,’ one of the Bristol Improv Theatre’s in-house troupes.
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Chris Grace: Sardines at The Wardrobe Theatre review – ‘beautifully profound and touching’
I was exclusively attracted to seeing Chris Grace’s show ‘Sardines,’ by two important factors – 1) my deep affection for his long-suffering character Jerry on the criminally-underloved NBC sitcom ‘Superstore,’ and 2) a general intrigue of a US comedian coming to Bristol, given that they tend to mostly stay in London (occasionally braving Manchester.) But I’m so, so glad that I did, even if the initial reasons were very superficial.
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‘I Met All My Friends on Dating Apps’ at the Alma Tavern review – ‘touchingly sincere and wholesome’
‘I Met All My Friends on Dating Apps’ is the latest work by writer, performer and theatre maker Jess Andrews. It certainly gets kudos for a noticeable title, and for its pitch: happily married Jess has decided to explore polygamy. Her husband knows, the dates know, and we’re following along on her journey. We start with a relatively bare stage; a small unit with make up and a mirror on it, and a pile of clothes.
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‘Fella: show us ur fruitcake’ at The Alma Tavern review: ‘endearingly giggly and chaotic’
It’s a chilly evening up in Clifton at the newly air-conditioned Alma Tavern Theatre. We’re a slightly thin but nevertheless game audience here to see ‘Fella: show us ur fruitcake.’ Fella ambles into the audience entrance minutes before showtime, resplendent in a leopard print zip-up top, silver face paint and wig cap and makes her way down the stairs, merrily chatting un-mic’d to the audience even before she begins.
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Tim Minchin: Songs The World Will Never Hear – review ‘immense affection …. and winking showmanship’
Tim Minchin came to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2005 for the first time with his debut show Dark Side, which was nominated for and then won the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. Winning this for your debut show is the kind of wildest fantasy for aspiring comedians that is so vanishingly rare, such a golden ticket to the upper stratosphere of the comedy ecosystem, that it’s not really worth bothering to dream about.