Edinburgh Fringe 2002
NewsRevue 2002, C, Edinburgh
THE format of a gang of comics performing satiric sketches and songs accompanied by a pianist is as old as the hills.
So it was suprising to see the extent to which this year's cast - cherry-picked from the long-running show at London's Canal Cafe Theatre - made it fresh.
From the Queen Mother's death to fatal rail crashes to Osama bin Laden, nothing was out of bounds. Indeed, the sickest material proved the most successful at getting laughs.
Therein lies the rub for a live revue. In terms of taste, the writers and performers have to push the envelope to create a sense of excitement, while hoping not to upset their audience.
It worked a treat. The vicious attack on film star Kate Winslet was well received, as were cruel jibes at members of the Royal Family (dead and alive) and Paul McCartney, his wife and clan.
The show - starring Bea Holland, Iain Davie, Dan Fox and Samantha Sanns - was slickly directed by Odette Abbot, with Chad Le Long as musical director and Emma Taylor as producer.
All of them should feel pleased with their work.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Ich Bin Produkt, CO2, Edinburgh
IRISHMAN James Goldsbury is not a fully-formed comedian.
His stand-up routines fell painfully between two chairs: neither observationally accurate enough to strike a chord of recognition with his audience, nor sufficiently surreal to get away with it.
Coupled with this gaffe, his performance skills were weak and he lacked the quality of material to sustain an hour of comedy.
You cannot get away with shamefully-poor routines about G-strings or why women cannot use mobile phones. His women's voices were hopeless and the conversations he enacted utterly lacking in credibility.
In mitigation, Goldsbury was playing in front of an audience of seven people at an appalling venue - a white-washed cellar bar with no atmosphere.
He would have been better advised to share a Fringe show with three others at a decent venue, so he could have filtered down his material to the best 15 minutes and really worked it.
As Goldsbury rambled on, failing even to put down a heckler, you ended up feeling sorry for him.
But the shambolic finale, in which he panicked his way through 50 bleary impressions, deserves every criticism.
STAR RATING (out of five): *
Chris Wilson
Lucy Porter, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
SHE may be small but Lucy Porter certainly has great charm and presence on stage.
Her smiling face warmed the room and she wasted no time in flirting outrageously with the audience.
She kicked off with some good gags in routines about getting drunk in Edinburgh, her school gym teacher and gymnastics displays.
The problem was there was a somewhat 1980s feel to her act. The jokes were fresh but the the subject matter was not. It was competent stand-up but not very exciting or adventurous.
The same could be said of the first of her characters - a Sloaney boutique owner. Unfortunately, the accent was extremely similar to her normal voice, while the quality of material dipped.
The second character - President BushÕs spirituality adviser - was better formed, more original and far funnier. But the voice-overs that accompanied both characters were weakly scripted.
All the same, it was an enjoyable performance by Porter. She is a very sound club act with much going for her.
However, she needs to stretch herself more as a writer and performer to produce comedy that is distinctive and exhilarating.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Chris Wilson
Brian Damage and Krysstal Go Pear Shaped at Midnight, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
THIS must be the longest comedy show at the Fringe this year and possibly the best value.
At three hours with 15 different acts, it felt like a stand-up marathon with all the highs and lows of a long distance run.
Brian Damage was an excellent compere. He has his grumpy persona down to a tee and knows his tight musical set backwards.
His wife Vicky plays his intellectually-challenged sidekick Krysstal and together they are like a good old music hall double-act - as daft and charming as they are funny and the perfect cement for a line-up of acts ranging from the highly-professional to the unashamedly amateurish.
It was wild.
The highlights included Phil Zimmerman's pigeon hate routine - an inspired piece of physical comedy that has enormous potential; young comedian Laurie Crowther's punchy and promising performance, and David Jackson's sickly surreal take on life.
The evening had started with a classical music performance by three-piece string outfit, Pluck - a fact easily forgetten later when Lloydy the Illegal Street Trader was chucking around a kidney.
Madly wonderful!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Gavin and Gavin - Full English Breakfast, Pleasance, Edinburgh
IT is unusual to encounter a comedy double-act who appear totally out of place on stage.
But the Gavin sisters may well be the exception that proves the rule.
Their material was, to put it kindly, unoriginal: verbatim chunks of Ali G, hammy rasta accents, nattering northern and Irish women - just about every cliche in the book.
The vast majority of the audience watched the show unravel in stunned silence. It was a truly abysmal performance that did them no credit.
It was certainly true the Gavin girls were not helped by their venue, the Pleasance Cellar. There was no staging or cantilevered seating with the result that most of the audience could not clearly see the performers for much of the show.
But that does not excuse the Gavins' appalling attempts at doing accents, the extreme weakness of their material and the unforgivable 'Is it because I is black?' Ali G rip-off.
By the time half an hour of performance had passed, members of the audience were stealthily gathering their belongings, evidently longing to get out.
You couldn't blame them. STAR RATING (out of five): *
Chris Wilson
Madame Galina - Ballet Star Galactica , Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
MADAME GALINA is sensational.
From the second she stepped on stage, the overweight and exiled Russian prima ballerina - also known as character comedian Yestyn Evans - had total mastery of the room.
She/he used the ruse that Arts Council inspectors were on their way - and the crowd needed to be rapidly trained up as a 'ballet audience'.
Monitors were appointed, a dancing partner auditioned and suitable plaudits rehearsed amid a heady blast of sexual innuendo and school-ma'mish discipline. It was brilliantly written and fantastically funny.
It was hard to believe that a show of this high calibre was playing to a room that was only one third full. It deserved to be selling out every night of the week.
As a piece of comedy acting, the role was beautifully underplayed, skilfully reined back.
But what made it special was that Evans was not just an overweight comic larking around in a tutu and tights. He is a trained ballet dancer, and despite his bulk, and can pirouette for Britain.
The result was a show that wasn't over until the fat lady danced. . .
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
McCloud and Black, Pleasance, Edinburgh
FEMALE double-act McCloud and Black spent their entire show playing two posh scrubbers who worked in an office.
From the outset, it was clearly heavily influenced by Absolutely Fabulous's Edina and Patsy, with incessant bitchy talk and drunken and sluttish behaviour.
Unfortunately, McCloud and Black lacked the great performance skills of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, and their script was lamentable compared with any AbFab episode.
They just about made the characters work, but there was a dearth of good punchlines and witty put-downs.
The highlight of the show was the films they had made featuring disgraceful episodes: one of them walking around town with her bum showing; a James Bond-style punch-up between the two of them, and one woman pushing the other around the streets on a swivel chair.
But these interludes didn't make up for the lack of a cogent plot.
Where should they take it from here? They need to have a hard think about whether to continue with these characters.
If they decide to, McCloud and Black will have to work much harder on their writing to give this legs.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
Chris Wilson
THE format of a gang of comics performing satiric sketches and songs accompanied by a pianist is as old as the hills.
So it was suprising to see the extent to which this year's cast - cherry-picked from the long-running show at London's Canal Cafe Theatre - made it fresh.
From the Queen Mother's death to fatal rail crashes to Osama bin Laden, nothing was out of bounds. Indeed, the sickest material proved the most successful at getting laughs.
Therein lies the rub for a live revue. In terms of taste, the writers and performers have to push the envelope to create a sense of excitement, while hoping not to upset their audience.
It worked a treat. The vicious attack on film star Kate Winslet was well received, as were cruel jibes at members of the Royal Family (dead and alive) and Paul McCartney, his wife and clan.
The show - starring Bea Holland, Iain Davie, Dan Fox and Samantha Sanns - was slickly directed by Odette Abbot, with Chad Le Long as musical director and Emma Taylor as producer.
All of them should feel pleased with their work.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Ich Bin Produkt, CO2, Edinburgh
IRISHMAN James Goldsbury is not a fully-formed comedian.
His stand-up routines fell painfully between two chairs: neither observationally accurate enough to strike a chord of recognition with his audience, nor sufficiently surreal to get away with it.
Coupled with this gaffe, his performance skills were weak and he lacked the quality of material to sustain an hour of comedy.
You cannot get away with shamefully-poor routines about G-strings or why women cannot use mobile phones. His women's voices were hopeless and the conversations he enacted utterly lacking in credibility.
In mitigation, Goldsbury was playing in front of an audience of seven people at an appalling venue - a white-washed cellar bar with no atmosphere.
He would have been better advised to share a Fringe show with three others at a decent venue, so he could have filtered down his material to the best 15 minutes and really worked it.
As Goldsbury rambled on, failing even to put down a heckler, you ended up feeling sorry for him.
But the shambolic finale, in which he panicked his way through 50 bleary impressions, deserves every criticism.
STAR RATING (out of five): *
Chris Wilson
Lucy Porter, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
SHE may be small but Lucy Porter certainly has great charm and presence on stage.
Her smiling face warmed the room and she wasted no time in flirting outrageously with the audience.
She kicked off with some good gags in routines about getting drunk in Edinburgh, her school gym teacher and gymnastics displays.
The problem was there was a somewhat 1980s feel to her act. The jokes were fresh but the the subject matter was not. It was competent stand-up but not very exciting or adventurous.
The same could be said of the first of her characters - a Sloaney boutique owner. Unfortunately, the accent was extremely similar to her normal voice, while the quality of material dipped.
The second character - President BushÕs spirituality adviser - was better formed, more original and far funnier. But the voice-overs that accompanied both characters were weakly scripted.
All the same, it was an enjoyable performance by Porter. She is a very sound club act with much going for her.
However, she needs to stretch herself more as a writer and performer to produce comedy that is distinctive and exhilarating.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Chris Wilson
Brian Damage and Krysstal Go Pear Shaped at Midnight, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
THIS must be the longest comedy show at the Fringe this year and possibly the best value.
At three hours with 15 different acts, it felt like a stand-up marathon with all the highs and lows of a long distance run.
Brian Damage was an excellent compere. He has his grumpy persona down to a tee and knows his tight musical set backwards.
His wife Vicky plays his intellectually-challenged sidekick Krysstal and together they are like a good old music hall double-act - as daft and charming as they are funny and the perfect cement for a line-up of acts ranging from the highly-professional to the unashamedly amateurish.
It was wild.
The highlights included Phil Zimmerman's pigeon hate routine - an inspired piece of physical comedy that has enormous potential; young comedian Laurie Crowther's punchy and promising performance, and David Jackson's sickly surreal take on life.
The evening had started with a classical music performance by three-piece string outfit, Pluck - a fact easily forgetten later when Lloydy the Illegal Street Trader was chucking around a kidney.
Madly wonderful!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Gavin and Gavin - Full English Breakfast, Pleasance, Edinburgh
IT is unusual to encounter a comedy double-act who appear totally out of place on stage.
But the Gavin sisters may well be the exception that proves the rule.
Their material was, to put it kindly, unoriginal: verbatim chunks of Ali G, hammy rasta accents, nattering northern and Irish women - just about every cliche in the book.
The vast majority of the audience watched the show unravel in stunned silence. It was a truly abysmal performance that did them no credit.
It was certainly true the Gavin girls were not helped by their venue, the Pleasance Cellar. There was no staging or cantilevered seating with the result that most of the audience could not clearly see the performers for much of the show.
But that does not excuse the Gavins' appalling attempts at doing accents, the extreme weakness of their material and the unforgivable 'Is it because I is black?' Ali G rip-off.
By the time half an hour of performance had passed, members of the audience were stealthily gathering their belongings, evidently longing to get out.
You couldn't blame them. STAR RATING (out of five): *
Chris Wilson
Madame Galina - Ballet Star Galactica , Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
MADAME GALINA is sensational.
From the second she stepped on stage, the overweight and exiled Russian prima ballerina - also known as character comedian Yestyn Evans - had total mastery of the room.
She/he used the ruse that Arts Council inspectors were on their way - and the crowd needed to be rapidly trained up as a 'ballet audience'.
Monitors were appointed, a dancing partner auditioned and suitable plaudits rehearsed amid a heady blast of sexual innuendo and school-ma'mish discipline. It was brilliantly written and fantastically funny.
It was hard to believe that a show of this high calibre was playing to a room that was only one third full. It deserved to be selling out every night of the week.
As a piece of comedy acting, the role was beautifully underplayed, skilfully reined back.
But what made it special was that Evans was not just an overweight comic larking around in a tutu and tights. He is a trained ballet dancer, and despite his bulk, and can pirouette for Britain.
The result was a show that wasn't over until the fat lady danced. . .
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
McCloud and Black, Pleasance, Edinburgh
FEMALE double-act McCloud and Black spent their entire show playing two posh scrubbers who worked in an office.
From the outset, it was clearly heavily influenced by Absolutely Fabulous's Edina and Patsy, with incessant bitchy talk and drunken and sluttish behaviour.
Unfortunately, McCloud and Black lacked the great performance skills of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, and their script was lamentable compared with any AbFab episode.
They just about made the characters work, but there was a dearth of good punchlines and witty put-downs.
The highlight of the show was the films they had made featuring disgraceful episodes: one of them walking around town with her bum showing; a James Bond-style punch-up between the two of them, and one woman pushing the other around the streets on a swivel chair.
But these interludes didn't make up for the lack of a cogent plot.
Where should they take it from here? They need to have a hard think about whether to continue with these characters.
If they decide to, McCloud and Black will have to work much harder on their writing to give this legs.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
Chris Wilson
IT took only a single glance at the audience to see how mainstream Rory Bremner has become: elderly couples in their Sunday best sat beside the middle-aged with only a sprinkling of younger generations.
Indeed, a besuited Bremner broke the ice with an old gag before rolling out his original material.
But from there on in, there was wonderful political comedy from the master of mimicry.
Bremner's impression of Tony Blair was as remarkable as his take on Labour's failings - in an effective attack on the Government's record.
The audience may not entirely have agreed with him, or even understood all the gags, but the speed and verve of Bremner's performance carried the night.
In some ways, however, he was too ambitious, rattling through what seemed like scores of impressions and occasionally missing the mark.
His Iain Duncan Smith impression was not quite right, having the tone of the Conservative leader's voice but missing its edge. Bremner's Simon Bates voice lacked bass and his Graham Norton was not sufficiently camp.
All the same, it was a very funny and enjoyable start to his Edinburgh run.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
The Funjabis 'Lovin A Sorna Gora' (Lovin' A Nice White Boy), Club West @ Crowne Plaza, Edinburgh
IF you went to this show expecting a crib of Goodness Gracious Me, you were in for a big surprise.
The Funjabis had a very different take on Asian culture - less caustic than their better-known rivals but, nonetheless, very enjoyable.
The show was a playlet/pantomime - a satirical Bollywood love story which really did not take itself terribly seriously.
This was both its strength and weakness. The audience clearly felt at ease with the production, forgiving a creeping amateurish that should not have been there.
It was a well-rounded affair - with spirited dancing and singing, some amusing sketches and highly-commendable all-round performances by Mamta Anand, Sody Singh Kahlon and David Capstick.
The plot - an Asian girl wants an arranged marriage but then falls for a rich white toff - was more fun than funny and, at times, good lines were few and far between. But the show had an uplifting quality that is surprisingly unusual in comedy.
You left feeling a little bit happier, having spent a pleasant hour losing yourself in a comedic fairytale.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Chris Wilson
Francesca Martinez - I'mperfect, Pleasance, Edinburgh
JUST in case you didn't know, Francesca Martinez has celebral palsy - around which she bases much of her comedy.
This is an observation rather than a criticism because she has proved herself a very talented performer who's turned her condition into a comedy goldmine.
Martinez was enormously charismatic on stage - drawing the audience into her secret world of humiliation at the doctor's, on a first-date at an Italian restaurant or being hassled by a shop security guard.
As so often in comedy, the real stories shone out while the nonsense fell a little flat.
But the real problem with the show was its structure. Martinez drifted from one piece of material to another without logical progression.
A good director might have brought more order to the production, enhancing the impact of what was excellent comedy with an important message - that we are all different, all special.
You sensed there was more beneath the surface than came out. In passing, she mentioned God numerous times but performed no material on how she felt about Him.
She was determined to venture into territory about British arms sales to India and Pakistan but failed to find a decent punchline.
Nonetheless, the show had much to commend it.
The episodes from her past - beautiful played out with the help of fellow comedian Markus Birdman - lifted the performance.
From Francesca in a Wonderbra to her occasional descent into sick humour, the show was full of pleasant surprises.
And the water pistol gag and the grand finale, in which she cut an audience member's hair very badly, were absolutely hilarious.
As for the perfection question, I can happily accept Francesca Martinez is perfect - but her comedy still has a little way to go.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Ricky Grover, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
IN his first hour-long Edinburgh show, the larger-than-life Grover strides on in his boxing gear with his vintage stand-up set of 20 minutes (admittedly, 18 minutes longer than an Audley Harrison bout).
This is promptly followed by Buller ("I'm nice - OH, YE, I'M NICE BUT DON'T UPSET ME!").
Ricky previously showcased Buller on The 11 O'Clock Show when he appeared in a prison cell.
This time he's on the loose with a live audience - and you are not safe at the back (who said only the front row gets picked on in comedy clubs?).
Finally, to fill the hour, Ricky appears as himself and explains the background to the show and his life, including his first job (a jewellers!), his family and his therapy.
His closing medley is how his life (and underpants) have changed over 25 years.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***and a half
Peter Merrett
Oram and Meeten, Pleasance, Edinburgh
STEVE ORAM and Tom Meeten are undoubtedly a talented duo.
They have done some great stuff in the past and there was a sense of expectation for this show.
But it proved a big disappointment. Certainly there were laughs to be had, but they popped up all too infrequently in a show that was held back by mediocre material.
This was a shame, because the performances were good.
The show got off to as bloated start, with an audience interaction section followed by a visual joke about scaring a baby in a cot which was initially very funny, but went on for too long.
It was returned to later in a manner that smacked of padding in a show lasting 50 minutes.
On the plus side, Tom Meeten, who at times in the past had seemed overshadowed by his partner, has become much funnier, and his depiction of a giggling simpleton village idiot-like character was brilliant.
Another potential gem in the show was thrown away, when a tall gangly mystery guest performer came on to do silly things in even sillier costumes.
Steve would then come on and tell the guy to leave, as if that was where the laugh lay.
But it was too false, and the laughs would surely have flowed if the gooning and ganglings had been authorised.
The main theme was the absurdity of mundane things.
There was a slide slow about Steve and Tom working together in a supermarket.
What we actually see are shots of them in swimming trunks, nowhere near any supermarket. Basically a funny idea, but it somehow lacked inspiration.
Possibly the funniest part of the show was Steve's bizarre Dingo song in which an unwilling and incompetent Meeten is followed around the room and pressed up against the walls and pillars.
But the sketch about three Scandinavians watching a chicken lay an egg was noweher near as funny as it sounds, its highlight being Meeten's sudden startling resemblance to Michael Palin.
Well, perhaps that is a good omen.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Comedy Spy
Omid Djalili, Pleasance, Edinburgh
OMID DJALILI has been one of the hottest tickets at this year's Fringe, which is quite an achievement for a show largely focussed on addressing the status quo after September 11.
Djalili, the only Iranian comic in town, is a man with a mission - using humour to fire creative bullets at the ingrained perceptions which lead to hatred and conflict.
He makes fun of President Bush and Tony Blair and Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon.
And he ridicules the BBC for the manner in which they wheel out the same unrepresentative nutter each time they claim to be presenting the Islamic view.
Well, let's hear from the Ku Klux Klan to redress the balance, he implores, to storms of laughter.
The laughter level, however, never quite builds into the expected all-englufing wave tonight.
But it is a measure of Djalili's skill as a performer, that, even on an off night, he still delivers a highly enjoyable show.
At one point, in keeping with a bad day at the office, the microphone conks out, but Djalili turns this to his advantage by launching into a Spandau Ballet song/Iranian remix.
He begins the evening speaking in an Iranian accent, then drops the pretence and goes into middle class English, revealing, hilariously, that he got into stand-up after the buzz of realising he was the second funniest person in the office.
Behind Keith in Accounts. Whatever happened to Keith? We are not told.
Never mind, there are Godzilla impressions, though not nearly enough of them, the usual range of silly faces and voices, and when a joke falls flat, or fails to get the laughter it deserves - "this is hilarious, you're just a shit audience" - it's the cue for the imfamous Djalili belly dancing.
There are some earnest moments, but just when you think Djalili is about to get too serious, he throws in a pefectly timed funny-bomb.
The show features a false ending with our man fading into the shadows.
But his place in the spotlight is assured.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Comedy Spy
Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award Final, Pleasance, Edinburgh
AN afternoon start for the thrusting wannabes - presumably to keep them all sober. But it didn't stop compere Chris Addison biting the hand that feeds him, with a few remarks about the sponsor. With the crowd warmed up, Addison reeled on the first act for the allotted eight minutes.
Ria Lina claims
to be from "Bucking-ham-shire", before admitting her American accent
and dark skin colour give her away. She breaks into song using her banjo to
reveal her father is German and he met her mum through a catalogue. Her
material to music is excellent and she would have been in the judges' mind come
the finish.
Assembled from
the comedy world to make the big decision were Dave Gorman, Simon Day and Mackenzie
Crook, plus Sarah Sands, The Daily Telegraph's small but perfectly-formed
Deputy Editor.
Next on, James
Bench-Capon, a posh bloke with a name that would not be out of place in the
Telegraph newsroom. He came dressed in immaculate suit and tie, looking a prime
candidate for a job on the Torygraph's comment desk. His assorted one liners
included stuff on feng-shui.
Third up, Paul
Kerensa, is ginger and 24. Or is it auburn?
Also suited and
booted, I sit in a packed audience at the Pleasance with shorts on and
wondering if I read the invitation wrong. Kerensa was good at maths and
produced flip charts. I can't help thinking this must have impressed Dave
Gorman.
Next on Stan
Stanley with very sharp observations on a suggestion for a medieval cook show
and the way Michael Buerk links to the weather on the BBC News - all of it
delivered with a cutting style. He didn't bother wearing a suit.
Final act of
the first five was Matthew Reed who started with a long visual gag on a quiet
Christmas then finished with a song about nicotine.
Sixth on was
Mark Watson, a young Bristolian wearing a T-shirt and khaki trousers who
dissects sod's law and army recruit adverts. Crucially, he had judge Dave
Gorman in stitches.
Laid-back, Gary
Delaney appears next with a cracking line about Winnie the Pooh. He
strolls along effortlessly with one liners on Amnesty International, penguins,
ladies in waiting and an Israeli flatmate.
Next is the
lovely Hils Barker, who like Delaney has already featured in the BBC new act competition
final. Her observations are on letters to the Daily Mail and how neutral
Switzerland is, before she pulls out her guitar and demonstrates how British
acts have hijacked latino music.
Steve Hall's
material touches upon the fact that he is a charity shop gypsy (no argument
from me). He is a Steve Coogan-lookalike and even sound-a-like but he has a
tame ending to his set.
Finally, Katie
Walsh with ponytail and glasses looks like a teacher and, maybe, if her resume
said she was a teacher or indeed winner of a new act competition, I'd check it
out as she describes how lies on CVs are only exaggerations.
A tough choice
for the judges, as I could only narrow it down to four, and even changed my
mind on the order of those before Sarah Sands arrived on stage to announce the
result.
A special
commendation to Stan Stanley, but the overall winner was Mark Watson.
Accepting the award and cheque for £2,000 Watson modestly commented:
"I thought two or three had trumped me today."
Dave Gorman remarked afterwards: "He's the only one who didn't remind me of anyone else."
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
The Gag Police
Phil Nichol, The Things I Like I Lick, Pleasance, Edinburgh
PHIL NICHOL is a picture of composure as he strolls onstage, beaming and basking in the audience's rapturous reception.
He then delivers a few conventionally-structured jokes which elicit a mixture of groans and titters.
But wait. This is all designed to lull the crowd into a false sense of security. They are about to be bombarded with a whirlwind of inspired angst-ridden lunacy, during which anyone present might at any moment be licked.
This happens to a very shiny-topped bald headed man in the front row - several times actually - as Nicol develops an alarming taste for his bonce.
Other victims simply get hugged or kissed or have silly newspaper hats placed on their heads by the sweat-soaked spittle sprayer from Canada.
Nicol's level of intensity is astonishing and you wonder if he can possibly keep it up over an hour. But he does.
He is a master at communicating truth about himself by pulling the audience - sometimes literally - into his world, and the story about being arrested after an altercation with a moronic Virgin Trains ticket inspector is funny because you can see it happening. Yes, this guy really knows how to lose the plot.
The title of the show came about out of a conversation with a friend, who told him in a dark moment of despair, that he should make a list of all the things he liked.
Nicol's depression was born of a disastrous year of bad luck, which, in addition to being arrested, saw his long-term girlfriend dump him, the loss of his savings, a random attack by a Tube lunatic who broke his nose and a freak accident that tore a muscle in his testicles. All of which left him unable to perform in the bedroom or on the stage.
But in a perfect example of the Buddhist principle of turning poison into medicine, Nicol channels all the frustration of that time into his performance.
In fact, his gloom, doom and misery about the pain of it all comes close to being a good and serious rock song, Radiohead-style.
He just needs to make it slightly less funny. The audience loved it.
Each show concludes with a surprise devised by a friend of Nicol who appears on stage.
On the night of this review, it features Nicol in an Elvis outfit and falls flat in spectacular style.
But normal service is resumed with a whirlwind rendition of a song about all the things he likes to lick.
Baldies beware!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Comedy Spy
Goodbye Seattle Coffee Company - Julian Fox, Pleasance Attic, Edinburgh
EVERY year at the Fringe, I hope and pray for brilliant new comedy talent that comes straight out of left field.
And in former Royal Shakespeare Company doorman Julian Fox, this year my prayers have been answered.
This man is a little comic genius - obsessed with inspecting coffee houses, drawing Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and keeping his own sad journal.
In this wondrous show, Fox hits on attributes that are very British - anal retentiveness coupled with a willingness to accept your lousy job.
Taking pride in something you have nicked, building afresh out of someone else's work.
His style was nervous/camp/articulate - somewhat like the stand-up comedian Paul Foot's, only far more so.
Fox's songs epitomised the angst of a London-living, flat-sharing, rent-paying generation - people seeking solace in an affordable luxury such as the products of the late, lamented Seattle Coffee Company (now part of Starbucks).
It was an extraordinary show which saw the crowd applauding long after it would have left most other shows.
Superb and sublime.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
Scott Capurro, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Dave Gorman remarked afterwards: "He's the only one who didn't remind me of anyone else."
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
The Gag Police
Phil Nichol, The Things I Like I Lick, Pleasance, Edinburgh
PHIL NICHOL is a picture of composure as he strolls onstage, beaming and basking in the audience's rapturous reception.
He then delivers a few conventionally-structured jokes which elicit a mixture of groans and titters.
But wait. This is all designed to lull the crowd into a false sense of security. They are about to be bombarded with a whirlwind of inspired angst-ridden lunacy, during which anyone present might at any moment be licked.
This happens to a very shiny-topped bald headed man in the front row - several times actually - as Nicol develops an alarming taste for his bonce.
Other victims simply get hugged or kissed or have silly newspaper hats placed on their heads by the sweat-soaked spittle sprayer from Canada.
Nicol's level of intensity is astonishing and you wonder if he can possibly keep it up over an hour. But he does.
He is a master at communicating truth about himself by pulling the audience - sometimes literally - into his world, and the story about being arrested after an altercation with a moronic Virgin Trains ticket inspector is funny because you can see it happening. Yes, this guy really knows how to lose the plot.
The title of the show came about out of a conversation with a friend, who told him in a dark moment of despair, that he should make a list of all the things he liked.
Nicol's depression was born of a disastrous year of bad luck, which, in addition to being arrested, saw his long-term girlfriend dump him, the loss of his savings, a random attack by a Tube lunatic who broke his nose and a freak accident that tore a muscle in his testicles. All of which left him unable to perform in the bedroom or on the stage.
But in a perfect example of the Buddhist principle of turning poison into medicine, Nicol channels all the frustration of that time into his performance.
In fact, his gloom, doom and misery about the pain of it all comes close to being a good and serious rock song, Radiohead-style.
He just needs to make it slightly less funny. The audience loved it.
Each show concludes with a surprise devised by a friend of Nicol who appears on stage.
On the night of this review, it features Nicol in an Elvis outfit and falls flat in spectacular style.
But normal service is resumed with a whirlwind rendition of a song about all the things he likes to lick.
Baldies beware!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Comedy Spy
Goodbye Seattle Coffee Company - Julian Fox, Pleasance Attic, Edinburgh
EVERY year at the Fringe, I hope and pray for brilliant new comedy talent that comes straight out of left field.
And in former Royal Shakespeare Company doorman Julian Fox, this year my prayers have been answered.
This man is a little comic genius - obsessed with inspecting coffee houses, drawing Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and keeping his own sad journal.
In this wondrous show, Fox hits on attributes that are very British - anal retentiveness coupled with a willingness to accept your lousy job.
Taking pride in something you have nicked, building afresh out of someone else's work.
His style was nervous/camp/articulate - somewhat like the stand-up comedian Paul Foot's, only far more so.
Fox's songs epitomised the angst of a London-living, flat-sharing, rent-paying generation - people seeking solace in an affordable luxury such as the products of the late, lamented Seattle Coffee Company (now part of Starbucks).
It was an extraordinary show which saw the crowd applauding long after it would have left most other shows.
Superb and sublime.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
Scott Capurro, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
WHEN you have shocked and shocked, where is there left to go?
This question sprang to mind after seeing San Franciscan comedian Scott Capurro failing to fill a smallish venue - despite his notoriety and undoubtedly enormous comedy skills.
During the show, you found yourself liking and pitying him in equal measure.
His performance was essentially one long (and hilarious) bitch about his sad life as a gay sex hunter and man who would happily say anything to make a passing impression.
Yes, he returned to Holocaust humour, although only tentatively this year.
And Capurro ran through a gumut of gay sexual practices - from rimming to fisting.
He even found a young gay man in the audience, accompanied by his mother, and embarrassed both of them by climbing on top of the lad to demonstrate 'tea-bagging'.
Admittedly, it was extremely funny to watch.
Capurro is laid-back in his style but very quick in wit, intelligent and super-cynical.
His problem now, perhaps, is that there is no control switch. He'll say anything to shock, whether it is funny or not.
This was fine when he was trying to make his name as a young comic, but now he is a 39-year-old, no one is particularly bothered any more, and he could be applying his comedy talents far more effectively.
Capurro is a gay Bill Hicks. The attributes that have guided his comedy could also destroy him.
Gratuitous sex is apparently Capurro's Achilles Heel.
After describing some of the unusual sexual acts he performs with strangers, he accused a married man of only attending the show to try to have sex with him.
You got the impression, however, that even Capurro himself was tired of his act.
He is a five-star comedian, currently firing on three cylinders.
Capurro is a great talent but desperately needs to reinvent himself to win back the attention of the public.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Thoughts of a Noble Mind - Simon Munnery, The Stand, Edinburgh
BURIED in the small print of Simon Munnery's highly-entertaining show is a great new idea for all struggling ventriloquists: come on stage with a metal bucket over your head.
And here's another thought: If people persecute you for wearing a bucket, on stage or off, don't get annoyed, don't shout, you'll only deafen yourself.
This is just a droplet from a torrent of good jokes that Munnery delivers to great effect in his deadpan style.
The show was cleverly structured with a mad visual act by Andrew Bailey in the middle, which nonetheless went on a tad too long, before Munnery returned with a different coloured bucket on his head.
There was a bizarre musical build-up during which expectaions were stoked by a countdown of the number of minutes till showtime.
Then, with great drama, Munnery appears, or fails to, dressed in a medieval orange outfit, with bucket on head, and a ball and chain in hand.
You might think the novelty of such a visual joke would quickly wear off, but the quality of Munnery's material while inside the bucket, and the authority of his delivery extracts maximum mileage from it.
However, the bucket, by virtue of its eventual removal, is really just a device to allow Munnery to be himself and deliver some clever thoughts on the twisted ways of the world.
These appear in lists, and diagrams and songs and self-deprecating one-liners.
He gives us his thought-provoking and very funny wisdom on subjects like God and money and sex.
For instance, rules for making love to a woman - don't, why stoke the volcano of grief?
Also, he conclusively proves, by way of a very funny joke, that the chicken came before the egg.
He offers a great tip for smokers trying to quit. Take up the harmonica. It engages the hands and mouth and simply produces notes instead of cancer.
Then with typically-perfect timing, he delivers the pay-off - but the harmonica is not as popular in restaurants.
The show ends with Munnery inviting the audience to don buckets and join him outside for a singalong in the poetically pouring rain. Great fun.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Comedy Spy
Jimeoin, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
JIMEOIN is the ultimate feel-good comedian.
The brilliant Irishman - who moved to Australia and became one of its biggest comedy names - is a fantastic observational physical comic.
He wins huge laughs out of body language and human psychology: material ranging from which days of the week girls can and cannot tart themselves up to how farmers feel about the colour of their tractors.
But he never humiliates the people in his audience. If he picks up a handbag from someone in the crowd, he does not go prying inside like Graham Norton would.
Instead he walks around with it, finding humour and enjoyment in carrying something strange and new.
The large audience of Australian, British, American and many other nationalities was united in laughter.
It was a shame that at times background noise from an adjacent theatre intruded upon the performance.
But that took nothing away from Jimeoin's comedy greatness.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
Daniel Kitson - Something, Pleasance, Edinburgh
DANIEL KITSON is brilliant at making his life sound funny.
The 25-year-old - who looks a bit like a 50-year-old woman - had his audience in gales of laughters with his stories of joining a pro-cannabis march (because it seemed the quickest way to get home), arguing with a bus driver who he'd called a prick, and almost getting a pasting at the hands of a drunken squaddie.
His stage persona is perfect.
And although he says he lacks social confidence, Kitson is supremely confident when performing - even hugging a man in the front row who was upset for reasons which were unclear.
Kitson is enormously talented and idiosyncratic in his outlook.
He divides the people he does not like into "knobs" or "cunts" - they have to be one or the other.
He claims to believe in there being only one possible soulmate for him, who he reckons is probably staying at home to avoid "the cunts".
If Kitson really believes this bollocks, it is very sad. Good relationships are built on partners respecting their differences as well as enjoying their common interests.
If he is looking for a mirror image of himself in a lover, he will have to marry a female clone of himself - as he won't find it in a natural woman.
Something to think about.
STAR RATING (out of five): Four-and-a-half
Chris Wilson
Hal, Amused Moose Comedy at Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh
HAL CRUTTENDEN is a gifted performer.
His training as an actor was evident in the effective way he delivered his routines to the audience.
And his material was high quality and as tight as a drum - with hardly a redundant syllable or comma.
I have seen Hal perform on many occasions and love it when he takes his audience on flights of fancy about the tooth fairy, scary monsters, Army ads or a host of other subjects.
This was just such a night.
The crowd were up for it and roared their way through his routines, as Cruttenden switched between camp and macho voices, politics and the bathroom, genially bantering with them along the way.
Hal is still growing in stature as a stand-up - and has great potential to make it as a big comedy star.
STAR RATING (out of five): Four-and-a-half
Chris Wilson
Billy Watson, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
IT is good to see Scottish comics taking shows to the Fringe - not intimidated by the high standard of many of the international acts.
And local lad Billy Watson certainly put his heart and soul into his show, working the small audience extremely well.
He has excellent confidence and stage presence, but his material needs some attention.
If you tackle such well-worn subjects as the War on Terrorism or internet pornography, you have to find something fresh and funny to say about them.
Watson would benefit from a few months on the London circuit - honing his material and learning where to draw the line.
All the same, I admired his gung-ho dedication to his craft, particularly the story of how he was on stage when he admitted marital infidelity for the first time - and his wife was in the audience.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Chris Wilson
Rob Deering - The Facts, Pleasance, Edinburgh
IT is not long since Rob Deering was doing open spots on the London comedy circuit. Yet he has been moving like lightning up the ranks of the stand-up world.
His debut Edinburgh Fringe show is a remarkable achievement for a relatively-new performer.
Deering harnesses his amiable personality, ready supply of gags and undoubted musical and physical comedy skills to deliver a well-honed and highly enjoyable performance.
The show is loosely autobiographical - taking in Deering's childhood quiz show appearances, manifold hair styles and obsession with James Bond theme tunes (which makes an excellent finale).
The material is good but the pace - at preview, at least - a little sluggish at times.
But have no doubt, this is a show well worth seeing and a performer with oodles of potential to produce great comedy.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
This question sprang to mind after seeing San Franciscan comedian Scott Capurro failing to fill a smallish venue - despite his notoriety and undoubtedly enormous comedy skills.
During the show, you found yourself liking and pitying him in equal measure.
His performance was essentially one long (and hilarious) bitch about his sad life as a gay sex hunter and man who would happily say anything to make a passing impression.
Yes, he returned to Holocaust humour, although only tentatively this year.
And Capurro ran through a gumut of gay sexual practices - from rimming to fisting.
He even found a young gay man in the audience, accompanied by his mother, and embarrassed both of them by climbing on top of the lad to demonstrate 'tea-bagging'.
Admittedly, it was extremely funny to watch.
Capurro is laid-back in his style but very quick in wit, intelligent and super-cynical.
His problem now, perhaps, is that there is no control switch. He'll say anything to shock, whether it is funny or not.
This was fine when he was trying to make his name as a young comic, but now he is a 39-year-old, no one is particularly bothered any more, and he could be applying his comedy talents far more effectively.
Capurro is a gay Bill Hicks. The attributes that have guided his comedy could also destroy him.
Gratuitous sex is apparently Capurro's Achilles Heel.
After describing some of the unusual sexual acts he performs with strangers, he accused a married man of only attending the show to try to have sex with him.
You got the impression, however, that even Capurro himself was tired of his act.
He is a five-star comedian, currently firing on three cylinders.
Capurro is a great talent but desperately needs to reinvent himself to win back the attention of the public.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
Thoughts of a Noble Mind - Simon Munnery, The Stand, Edinburgh
BURIED in the small print of Simon Munnery's highly-entertaining show is a great new idea for all struggling ventriloquists: come on stage with a metal bucket over your head.
And here's another thought: If people persecute you for wearing a bucket, on stage or off, don't get annoyed, don't shout, you'll only deafen yourself.
This is just a droplet from a torrent of good jokes that Munnery delivers to great effect in his deadpan style.
The show was cleverly structured with a mad visual act by Andrew Bailey in the middle, which nonetheless went on a tad too long, before Munnery returned with a different coloured bucket on his head.
There was a bizarre musical build-up during which expectaions were stoked by a countdown of the number of minutes till showtime.
Then, with great drama, Munnery appears, or fails to, dressed in a medieval orange outfit, with bucket on head, and a ball and chain in hand.
You might think the novelty of such a visual joke would quickly wear off, but the quality of Munnery's material while inside the bucket, and the authority of his delivery extracts maximum mileage from it.
However, the bucket, by virtue of its eventual removal, is really just a device to allow Munnery to be himself and deliver some clever thoughts on the twisted ways of the world.
These appear in lists, and diagrams and songs and self-deprecating one-liners.
He gives us his thought-provoking and very funny wisdom on subjects like God and money and sex.
For instance, rules for making love to a woman - don't, why stoke the volcano of grief?
Also, he conclusively proves, by way of a very funny joke, that the chicken came before the egg.
He offers a great tip for smokers trying to quit. Take up the harmonica. It engages the hands and mouth and simply produces notes instead of cancer.
Then with typically-perfect timing, he delivers the pay-off - but the harmonica is not as popular in restaurants.
The show ends with Munnery inviting the audience to don buckets and join him outside for a singalong in the poetically pouring rain. Great fun.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Comedy Spy
Jimeoin, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
JIMEOIN is the ultimate feel-good comedian.
The brilliant Irishman - who moved to Australia and became one of its biggest comedy names - is a fantastic observational physical comic.
He wins huge laughs out of body language and human psychology: material ranging from which days of the week girls can and cannot tart themselves up to how farmers feel about the colour of their tractors.
But he never humiliates the people in his audience. If he picks up a handbag from someone in the crowd, he does not go prying inside like Graham Norton would.
Instead he walks around with it, finding humour and enjoyment in carrying something strange and new.
The large audience of Australian, British, American and many other nationalities was united in laughter.
It was a shame that at times background noise from an adjacent theatre intruded upon the performance.
But that took nothing away from Jimeoin's comedy greatness.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Chris Wilson
Daniel Kitson - Something, Pleasance, Edinburgh
DANIEL KITSON is brilliant at making his life sound funny.
The 25-year-old - who looks a bit like a 50-year-old woman - had his audience in gales of laughters with his stories of joining a pro-cannabis march (because it seemed the quickest way to get home), arguing with a bus driver who he'd called a prick, and almost getting a pasting at the hands of a drunken squaddie.
His stage persona is perfect.
And although he says he lacks social confidence, Kitson is supremely confident when performing - even hugging a man in the front row who was upset for reasons which were unclear.
Kitson is enormously talented and idiosyncratic in his outlook.
He divides the people he does not like into "knobs" or "cunts" - they have to be one or the other.
He claims to believe in there being only one possible soulmate for him, who he reckons is probably staying at home to avoid "the cunts".
If Kitson really believes this bollocks, it is very sad. Good relationships are built on partners respecting their differences as well as enjoying their common interests.
If he is looking for a mirror image of himself in a lover, he will have to marry a female clone of himself - as he won't find it in a natural woman.
Something to think about.
STAR RATING (out of five): Four-and-a-half
Chris Wilson
Hal, Amused Moose Comedy at Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh
HAL CRUTTENDEN is a gifted performer.
His training as an actor was evident in the effective way he delivered his routines to the audience.
And his material was high quality and as tight as a drum - with hardly a redundant syllable or comma.
I have seen Hal perform on many occasions and love it when he takes his audience on flights of fancy about the tooth fairy, scary monsters, Army ads or a host of other subjects.
This was just such a night.
The crowd were up for it and roared their way through his routines, as Cruttenden switched between camp and macho voices, politics and the bathroom, genially bantering with them along the way.
Hal is still growing in stature as a stand-up - and has great potential to make it as a big comedy star.
STAR RATING (out of five): Four-and-a-half
Chris Wilson
Billy Watson, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
IT is good to see Scottish comics taking shows to the Fringe - not intimidated by the high standard of many of the international acts.
And local lad Billy Watson certainly put his heart and soul into his show, working the small audience extremely well.
He has excellent confidence and stage presence, but his material needs some attention.
If you tackle such well-worn subjects as the War on Terrorism or internet pornography, you have to find something fresh and funny to say about them.
Watson would benefit from a few months on the London circuit - honing his material and learning where to draw the line.
All the same, I admired his gung-ho dedication to his craft, particularly the story of how he was on stage when he admitted marital infidelity for the first time - and his wife was in the audience.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Chris Wilson
Rob Deering - The Facts, Pleasance, Edinburgh
IT is not long since Rob Deering was doing open spots on the London comedy circuit. Yet he has been moving like lightning up the ranks of the stand-up world.
His debut Edinburgh Fringe show is a remarkable achievement for a relatively-new performer.
Deering harnesses his amiable personality, ready supply of gags and undoubted musical and physical comedy skills to deliver a well-honed and highly enjoyable performance.
The show is loosely autobiographical - taking in Deering's childhood quiz show appearances, manifold hair styles and obsession with James Bond theme tunes (which makes an excellent finale).
The material is good but the pace - at preview, at least - a little sluggish at times.
But have no doubt, this is a show well worth seeing and a performer with oodles of potential to produce great comedy.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson
