Ele McKenzie: Bringing It All Back Home, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe 2026

 By Ollie Wilson

What a weird experience this was! Ele McKenzie seems half-Sloane, half-geek, from a very strange background.

If her show is to be believed, she has a terrible relationship with her mother Jane, has had a shocking break-up from her ex-boyfriend - as well as suffering from haemorrhoids and a verruca. Ele, who says she is 30, has some odd ideas. She said she was seeking 'elderly penis', which she imagined was gnarled and wrinkled! Someone aged around 60 must appear to be 105 to her!

Ele is extremely talented as a stand-up and very funny. But listening to her flights of fancy about being 'fingered' by a Bob Dylan with long digits and how, somehow, miraculously, this affair would heal her family's rift, you did wonder what the hell goes on in her head.

Ele McKenzie has funny bones and I liked her. So, I am giving her four stars.

Star Rating: ****

Chip and Gus: A Comedy with Balls, TheSpace @ Venue 45, Edinburgh Fringe 2026

By Laura King and Ollie Wilson

Chip and Gus are two middle-aged, socially awkward New York academics who meet once a month to play ping pong. Each pretends it is not that big a deal to them, but over the back and forth of their table tennis emerges academic one-upmanship, regrets, petty squabbles and an unfortunate propensity for falling for the same women.

What seems like a small favour assumes epic proportions. The neuroses of Woody Allen meets Proust mixed with cheesy humour. It is an intelligent, energetic and sassy play. Gus is an extraordinarily pedantic and erudite professor. Chip is a struggling music teacher in a state of panic.

Both actors put in remarkable performances, arguing in complex scenes while proficiently playing table tennis. However, we did not particularly care for the play. Being clever is not the same as being interesting and engaging. Nonetheless, the production is an impressive achievement. Therefore, we are giving it four stars.

Star Rating: ****

Shaggers, Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, Edinburgh Fringe 2026

 By Ollie Wilson and Laura King

Shaggers has become an institution at the Edinburgh Fringe - after providing 18 years of sex and relationships club comedy.

We love it, although it can be quite hit and miss in terms of the quality of its content. The show we attended was not a classic. Compere Nik Coppin was his usual enthusiastic and funny self, and opening act Jeannie Jones had some good material in defence of ladies' 'bushes' and against the vogue for shaving off pubes.

Michael Shafar was very funny, working each member of the front row to great effect. However, Ivor Dembina cut a shambling figure, trying to read gags from scrappy pieces of paper, treating the gig like a new material night and relying heavily on the generosity of the afternoon crowd. He was a last-minute stand-in, but, surely, after more than 40 years in show business he must have learnt some dirty jokes by heart! And Jay Sodagar got some good laughs but wasn't really taking the roof off.

All the same, it was an enjoyable hour - and I love the concept. So, I am giving the show four stars.

Star Rating: ****

The Frank Carson Story: Mike McCabe, Le Monde (Shanghai), Edinburgh Fringe 2026

By Ollie Wilson

It was great to see Mike McCabe perform, although not so great to see how he was faring with his venue.

Almost ten minutes after the gig was supposed to start, the audience was still waiting in a dirty gully, locked out, and when we tried to enter were told off. Moreover, even when the show got underway, it was marred by terrible technical mishaps, with sounds effects frequently played far too loud or at the wrong time, and the wrong pictures appearing on the screen. Unfortunate McCabe remonstrated with the guy in the tech box.

That said, it was superb to hear Mike McCabe tell the jokes of the legendary Frank Carson, his late friend, and recap on some of the great man's life story. It was very interesting. And good to hear about 1970s TV show The Comedians, on which Frank and Mike performed. Indeed, their accents and material sounded pretty similar.

But with technical issues ruining much of the show (why didn't they do a proper tech run?), it ended early. A crying shame! Therefore, I am giving four stars for Mike McCabe, but only one star for this nightclub venue.  

Star rating: ****

Laughing Stock, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh Fringe 2026

 By Ollie Wilson and Laura King

This was a fast-paced medley of American comedians - and their neuroses.

Compere Charley Lanyon did a great job warming up the audience, despite a 'catastrophic' hangover drinking all night with a gang of Glaswegians and, accidentally, awakening on a couch in Leith. He also had a surreal tip for how to best to snort in the hot tub - another clue to his lifestyle!

It was a very lively and loud audience for a 10.30pm gig and a particularly vociferous Scottish heckler in the front row featured through the show. To be fair, he was funny and, on the whole, the stand-ups worked with him rather than against for the benefit of the gig. 

First turn up, the glabrous Jason Greene, had good material about baldness and evil and getting older. Next was a real treat: a double act. Not any double act either, but a male-female, long-term married couple double act, Anna Vocino and Loren Tarquinio, They were good and she particularly had great comedy timing. And it takes balls for a middle-aged couple with a grown-up kid to stand on stage and talk about their sex life, 'watching a porn' and fantasies in bed (She said: 'eating ass'. He said routinely: 'Noted.' 

Our favourite act was Jon Dunn from Alabama - a bear of a man - who has turned his autism diagnosis into comedy gold. He was large, but not as fat as he once was (an impressive 24 stone!). Indeed, he was managing both his autism and his weight to ensure he never ran out of material!

The closing act, Wally Baram, has a lot of stage presence and managed to humiliate the heckler into an uncharacteristic silence! But, for some reason, her crowd work went better than her set!

Overall, a fine show!

Star rating: ****