Andrew Maxwell: The Bare Maximum

By Ron Bingham

Irish comedy legend Andrew Maxwell isn’t being as political as usual this year, possibly because of the chaotic nature of the UK’s politics making it impossible to have material that last more than a week. This year’s show looks at culture, especially Irish and Australian (Perth), with mentions of that art installation where people in New York and Dublin could interact in real time, which went so disastrously wrong, and the short shart Prime Ministership of Liz Truss as compared to the long reign of Queen Elizabeth.

We also had a poignant story about Andrew’s father and rugby, which got very emotional, and a tale of his nephew in rural Ireland’s bravery and dress sense. I liked how Andrew told us that his father always came to Edinburgh with him, and sat at the back of his shows, so often that he became a second father to all the Irish comics in Edinburgh. Pity dad thought his son’s comedy wasn’t as good as another performer, but that’s parents for you.

As usual, Andrew is well versed in the art of storytelling, knows when to break the tension of a story with a joke, and surprisingly good at kicking the set. The large audience (probably around 200) were enjoying the show, once they’d all dragged themselves out of the bar next door, and it was a thoroughly good hour of stand-up…. though Andrew’s dad would probably have said “not as good as Jason Byrne”.

Four stars!

The Bare Maximum is on at Just the Tonic Nucleus until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/andrew-maxwell-the-bare-maximum

Hygge

By Ron Bingham

This certainly was a delightful change from the usual Three Aussies/Kiwis/Scotsmen/Irish etc grouping.

Our host Nina is a six foot tall black Norwegian who chose to study abroad in England as she loves the football (she mentioned a specific player she fancied – I think he’s captain of Norway and Arsenal – whatever). She chatted to the audience and told us a little about her life in Norway and England, before introducing us to three fellow Norwegian comedians.

Pernille Haaland (I have a flyer of her other Edinburgh show, so I know I spelled that right) was very funny as she spoke about being in her mid-30s, single and having no interest in kids. Hanna (or Hannah) and a man whose name I didn’t catch were both great. Most of the stories focused on Norwegians in and out of their country, and the interesting perceptions people have of Norway.

I get the impression from the show’s poster that the roster of guests changes every day (who knew so many Norwegian comics were hanging round Edinburgh waiting for the call-up?). All the acts were entertaining, the room was sold-out and full of happy people (including some Norwegians). A very entertaining hour all round. Apologies to the acts for not writing their names down.

 

Three and a half stars!

Hygge is on at Just the Tonic at The Caves until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/hygge

The End of the World Show

By Colin Flaherty

Following a video documenting many images of the End Of Days and various atrocities over the course of history, Mr Death appears on stage bathed in red light. Despite the ominous atmosphere he is merely here to give us a run down of 6 major religions and task us with voting for which religious doctrine humankind should be bound to.

With each segment, the audience are eligible to win an “I Cheated Death” badge (redeemable for extra an 5 years) by guessing which one is next from a set of cryptic clues. This competitive element gives those well versed in theology a chance to flex their trivia muscles.

This show presents lots of facts about the religions being discussed, some of which may be new information to you. To keep things from being too dense, vague links to pop culture are used to tickle our funny bones. In addition to some clever word play, they also pop up as gif styled clips which Mr Death blames on that prankster St Peter.

Mr Death (aka Mark Speed) comes across on stage as a friendly bureaucrat guiding us through an afterlife induction process. He presents the information with a cheery attitude and a slight world weariness in that he’s been through this a trillion times with us tedious humans, a perfect portrayal for this delightful omnipresent creature. Being a PowerPoint-centric show there isn’t a lot of movement from him save some gesturing, our main focus being on the pages of information on screen. A mixture of satirical images and music clips keep us giggling. The highlight is a delightful animation of the apocalypse featuring all the characters discussed throughout.

The End Of The World Show is a wonderful comedic lecture that presents a hell of a lot of information to you in an entertaining and amusing manner. Even the agnostic among us will have plenty of food for thought, or we just enjoy laughing at all the silly beliefs.

The End of the World Show is on at Just the Tonic at The Caves until August 25

Three and a half stars!

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/end-of-the-world-show

Chelsea Birkby: This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky

By Ron Bingham

The setting for this show is one of the dank, musty smelling caves 30 metres under a main road, festooned with slightly rotting red drapery hiding the damp walls. A full house of about 40 people (also slightly damp) are watching Chelsea in a pair of silver trousers (and a top of some sort). She’s telling us about her manic depression and how she managed to reason her way out of the mania, but required the Cheeky girls (and Venga Boys) to help her fight her depression.

A fun hour on the power of music and horses to uplift the human spirit. Full of jokes and tales of therapy, childhood dreams, relationships and wellies. Chelsea has a relaxing style and an engaging manner which had the audience entranced. Thoroughly entertaining show, and I have no idea why all those people on Tiktok claimed she was Prince Charles.

Three and a half stars!

This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky is on at Just the Tonic at The Caves until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/chelsea-birkby-this-is-life-cheeky-cheeky

Nina Gilligan – Goldfish

By Lisa Clark

Nina Gilligan is a feisty, charming comedian “from the North” of England, who reminds me somewhat of a Mancunian Janey Godley. The show is mostly about the strength in women, health issues and middle age, except it’s not. It turns out that all of these are a preamble to where Goldfish is going.

Nina has debilitating chronic Migraines that began late in life, these affect her short term memory and make her think about her mother who had dementia at the end of her life, like a lot more women than men do. She mines laughs from this and menopause and how tough and angry the women of her mother’s generation seemed to be. She also speaks of the joy of women gathering in groups and finding strength and power in those friendship groups. Having just spent time in the north of England it was quite an experience to see the multitude of groups of girls owning the streets on a Saturday night. Her stories are funny and take up about 90% of the show.

At the time Nina’s material felt a bit all over the shop, and yes, she’s not up to Hannah Gadsby’s skill level, but this is her “Nanette” show and her final story, about being sexually assaulted by a comedy promoter, brought it all home. It only takes up a very short part of the show but the laughs stop, she leaves the stage and it’s riveting. We then hear talk about how she was part of coming out with other female comedians who’d been through the same thing and had their own #Metoo movement that made her brave enough to work this through in a show. Being off stage possibly gives her the distance to help her re-live that trauma every night but it works and she doesn’t leave us for too long.

Nina returns to us dressed as a goldfish, a running theme throughout the show, for a celebratory ending. It’s hard to know if this show would’ve worked better dramatically by ending on a blackout, that the cheery ending may feel a little tacked on out of fear of alienating her audience. But why shouldn’t she be a goldfish if she wants to be? Golden and fantastic, blowing bubbles of joy at having created uplifting art out of the darkness.

Four stars!

 

 

Goldfish is on at Just the Tonic Nucleus until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/nina-gilligan-goldfish