Comedy Fringe For a Fiver

The Fringe is nearly here. If you get in quick you can catch some of the best acts in exchange for a mere fiver. Here Brian Donaldson selects some of the finest shows you can see for the price of a Royal-Mile-in- August pint. Venue booking information at the end of the listings.

A Betrayal of Penguins The two young Irish jokers return with more sketchy nonsense in a show entitled Don’t Run with Scissors? Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-6 Aug, 2.45pm.

Adam Riches The man behind Rogue Males is back in the saddle as he Rides! again. Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug, 4pm.

Alex Horne Cleverest man in comedy? Got to be up there, certainly. Odds is the fullest run of the three shows he’s doing, and in it he addresses numbers, quantum physics and regrets. Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug, 8.30pm. Andrew Lawrence The gingered one cruelly concludes that this is his Too Ugly for Television Tour. Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug, 9.20pm.

The Aspidistras Gerardine Coyne and Maria Hodson do a neat mix of music, comedy and drama for their Secret Breakfast Gig. The Caves, 5 & 6 Aug, 11.35am.

Bec Hill Bec Hill Didn’t Want to Play Your Stupid Game Anyway is arguably the most endearing comedy show title of the Fringe. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–7 Aug, 4pm.

The Big Value Comedy Show Early/Late The 16th year of this showcase for tomorrow’s giants of comedy with two 90-minute slots per evening. The Caves, 5 & 6 Aug, 7.30pm, 9.30pm. The Boy with Tape on His Face An hour of mime: how funny can that possibly be? Blindingly so, as it happens. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5 & 6 Aug, 10.30pm.

The Boom Jennies Declaring that We Want Action, the BJs are getting the comedy revolution started. Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug, 2.10pm. Cactus Directed by Mark Chavez of the Pajama Men, this is a ‘carnival of boundless imaginings’. Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 6.50pm.

Chef! Beatbox, a cappella and martial arts: wouldn’t be happening in my kitchen. Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 4pm.

Celia Pacquola The desperately likeable Aussie follows up a gleefully successful debut last year with Flying Solos, a show about getting out of your safety zone and stepping right on up. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–6 Aug, 6pm. Charlie Talbot Someone Better Known is a debut that ponders over one’s superfluity. Well, Charlie’s anyway. GRV, 5 & 6 Aug, 4pm.

Chris Corcoran The Welsh wizard comes back after a long absence from the Fringe. His debut starred him and some puppets and a bit of flip-charting and he’s since gone on to entertain the weans on CBeebies with the magnificent Doodle-Do. Here, he declares that What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour. Le Monde, 5 Aug, 6.45pm.

60 THE LIST 22 Jul–5 Aug 2010

Lesbian Bathhouse

The Clean as Possible Comedy Show Can this possibly be funny? Of course it will be. After all, swearing is neither big nor clever. Apparently. The Lot, 6–30 Aug, 5pm.

The Comedy Zone Man, this showcase has been going on for years. Among the quartet this time around are Scotsman Davey See and Naz Osmanoglu. Pleasance Courtyard, 4–6 Aug, 10.45pm. Dan Antopolski He churned out the best joke of the Fringe last year, according to Dave (the TV channel, not just some random bloke with that forename), so let’s see what he’s made of in ’10 with Turn of the Century. Pleasance Dome, 4–6 Aug, 8pm.

Danny Bevins In The Making of an American Smartass, signor Bevins delivers a cocky and opinionated diatribe. The Tron, 5–11 Aug, 10.20pm. Felicity Ward Another one of those terribly funny antipodeans flicks her way through an hour as she Reads from the Book of Moron. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–6 Aug, 6.45pm.

Gemma Goggin Reflecting on some dating disasters, this show is entitled Get Laid or Die Trying. One for the mainstream rappers among you, there. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–7 Aug, 1.30pm.

Holly Burn The one-off that is Ms Burn follows up her site-specific show of last year with Living and Dying, a rule- dispensing slab of character comedy. The Caves, 5 & 6 Aug, 3.35pm. The Incident Aussie comics Sam Simmons and David Quirk collaborate for ‘Godot meets Point Break in a shop’. Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 4.45pm.

Jeremy Lion After a long absence, possibly drying out, the outlandishly inappropriate kids entertainer has returned. Look behind the gaudy make- up and you might recognise a guy that was in The Thick of It. Pleasance Dome, 4–6 Aug, 8.20pm. Lee Nelson Seem him on telly yet? Never mind, he’s well better in the flesh. Pleasance Courtyard, 4–6 Aug, 10.20pm.

Leisa Rea The former one half of Adams and Rea has more mature matters on her mind these days. A Pension Plan for instance. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-6 Aug, 2pm.

Lesbian Bathhouse Now, there’s a title and a half. Probably not what you might expect it to be, this show, then again, maybe it will deliver exactly that. Apparently it’s a ‘one-act comic romp.’ Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 10.40pm.

Maeve Higgins The cheeky Irish lass beguiles and impresses us with her Personal Best. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4 & 5 Aug, 4.30pm.

Miles Jupp The posh fop with the wicked sense of fun takes a real chance with his Scottish fanbase by sticking the word ‘cricket’ into a show title. Thusly: Fibber in the Heat (A Cricket Tale). Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-6 Aug, 8pm.

New Art Club An amalgamation of their past shows from this musical- dance act. Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 7.15pm.

Paul Zenon Another chap returning to the Fringe after a lengthy absence, Lounge Wizard will no doubt be full of eye-poppingly awesome magic stuff. Unless in the interim period he’s decided to be the new Jim Jefferies and has a set full of jokes about women and the disabled, which does seem rather unlikely. Le Monde, 4 & 5 Aug, 9.15pm. The Penny Dreadfuls Brand new sketch fare from the increasingly beloved Fringe faves. Pleasance Courtyard, 4–6 Aug, 6pm.

Phil Kay Still challenging Jason Byrne as the comic most likely to need a lie- down at the end of an hour-long show, our lad is doing a number of things this Fringe (we think that number is four). Here, it’s RadioFree, a whirlygig of music-based comedy. The Caves, 5 & 6 Aug, 11.40pm.

The Real MacGuffins The new Pros from Dover, some are saying, not a bad recommendation for this sketch trio. Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug,10.45pm. Russell Kane The Essex lad can’t see what he’s doing for Smokescreens and

www.list.co.uk/comedy

Castles. What does it all mean? Pleasance Courtyard, 4-6 Aug, 9.10pm.

Sara Pascoe She’s directing a couple of shows while she’s here, but the tipped-for-massive things comic gets a chance to do her own stufff with Sara Pascoe vs Her Ego. Pleasance Courtyard, 4 & 5 Aug, 8.15pm.

Scott Agnew The former Scottish Comedian of the Year (we’ll stop saying that one day) follows up his full debut of 2009 with Pride (In the Name of Love), another personal exploration of the soul. But funny with it, don’t worry. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-6 Aug, 11.15pm.

Sophie Black Someone else striking out from her past. Once part of the great Fat Tongue, Ms Black is now doing sketch stuff all on her tod. Pleasance Courtyard, 4 & 5 Aug, 8.15pm. Strassman: Duality If sinister ventriloquist dummies keep you awake at night, maybe best to avoid this. For everyone else, the master of such things returns, battling his alter ego in a desperate race against insanity. Holy bejesus, that sounds spooky. Pleasance Courtyard, 4 & 5 Aug, 7pm.

Stuart Goldsmith No longer hanging around the Kiosk of Champions, the former street entertainer tries to prove he’s a Reasonable Man. Pleasance Dome, 4-6 Aug, 7.30pm.

Terry Alderton If a straight-down-the- line solid night’s comedy is your bag of desires when it comes to picking a Fringe stand-up to see, then Tel is your man. Pleasance Dome, 4-6 Aug, 9.20pm. Two Episodes of MASH Any sketch shows out there with a better name than this? Thought not. Joe Wilkinson and Diane Morgan deliver a somewhat obtuse set entitled A Sketch Show by These Two People. Bit vague. Pleasance Dome, 4–6 Aug, 4.20pm.

Wil Hodgson Becoming a right old staple of the Fringe is the Chippenham chap. Last year he was spotted at the Caves chewing the fat with Mark Thomas and now he’s in there doing a gig. Funny old world. The Caves, 5 & 6 Aug, 3.50pm. Your Days are Numbered: The Maths of Death Just like school this, as we get numbers thrown at us before noon. But Matt Parker and Timandra Harkness will make it even funnier than watching a teacher (geography or similar) slip on some soap in the playground. Assembly Rooms, 5 & 6 Aug, 11.25am.

BOOKING INFORMATION

www.edfringe.com

Assembly Rooms, George Street, 623 3030 The Caves, Cowgate, 556 5375

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square, 622 6552

The GRV, Guthrie Street, 226 0000 The Lot, Grassmarket, 226 0000

Le Monde, George Street, 270 3914

Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 556 6550 Pleasance Dome, Bristo Square, 556 6550

The Tron, Hunter Square, 226 0000