Fringe comedy reviews: Jonathan Oldfield: Exquisite Corpse | Chris Cantrill: Rewilding | Harriet Dyer: Easily Distra… | Fiona Allen: White Lies | Hajar, Like Badger | The Buddha Wears Prada

Jonathan Oldfield | Sam Rockman Photos

COMEDY

Jonathan Oldfield: Exquisite Corpse ★★★★

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 30 August

A surreally inventive character comedy hour, Jonathan Oldfield's confident Fringe debut is all the more impressive for him performing having broken his arm once again, leaving him sling-impaired. Deriving its name from the old game whereby a character is created by folding a piece of paper into thirds, with different people drawing the head, body and legs, Exquisite Corpse lives pretty fast and dies rarely, exemplified by the amusing, deceptive adverts he jams between the sketches. Oldfield never rests on his laurels when he's had a resounding wave of laughter, bouncing from one creation to the next with a flash of cheekily audacious grin.

Improvising flimsy quickies from characters assembled from the audience's drawings, these intermissions never truly soar. Yet they do vary the pace and cleanse the palate between his own richer, more intense and pre-written offerings, such as the furious final custodian of Blockbuster video store, madly clinging on like a Japanese soldier on a remote Pacific Island after a crushing defeat he's oblivious to, while desperately trying to forge a connection with his offspring. Justin Trudeau is next. Yes, the Welsh allotment owner who can't stop mesmerically dancing while grappling with the destabilising return of an old flame. And a compulsive teenage liar in isolated rural America attempts to negotiate an extra-terrestrial encounter.

Apparently all inspired by its own renegade logic, Oldfield does at least have the scars to show some of his seven arm breaks, his temporary drop of the mask for sincerity in stark relief to the feints and rug pulls he's employing elsewhere in this participatory but never intimidating show that you'll spring to get engaged in. Occasionally, the madcappery can feel a little reaching, straining in its own self-amusement. But you certainly appreciate his swivel-eyed commitment. Jay Richardson

COMEDY

Chris Cantrill: Rewilding ★★★★

The Tron @ Monkey Barrel (Venue 51) until 30 August

Mike Wozniak might claim to have the “one of the most parochial shows on offer” at this year’s Fringe, but Chris Cantrill is certainly giving him a run for his money.

The SNL UK writer, who has several Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations under his belt, both as a solo act and with Amy Gledhill in The Delightful Sausage, quickly sets the scene in Rewilding, and immediately we enter his world.

Living near Hadrian’s Wall, Cantrill – who’s also one of the comedy brains behind BBC Radio 4’s Icklewick FM – is a keen observer of local life. He’s getting used to country ways and being in his 40s, and even edits the local newsletter.

Whether the characters he describes in Rewilding are made up or not, it doesn’t matter - they feel entirely real. Among them are the tyrannical octogenarian who’s taken against him, the fellow who watches terrible things online and the quad bike-riding rural lads who work hard, drink hard and could kick off at a moment’s notice.

After Cantrill’s wife accepts a social invitation on behalf of both of them (and he attends “lividly”), something changes. A malfeasance, which strongly resembles a real-life story from 2023, is committed, and our narrator takes it upon himself to work out the identity of the culprit and confront them at the agricultural show.

While Wozniak’s The Bench takes us forensically through the suspects in a mystery about an act of vandalism, Cantrill’s Rewilding takes a quicker path to its resolution.

It goes deeper than that, though, subtly offering up some empathy for those who err, and it’s peppered with self-deprecating stories and observations from his own life and career. Above all, it’s a warmly laugh-heavy slice of life – real or dreamt up – from the brain of a likeable presence with truly funny bones. Ashley Davies

Enjoying The Scotsman's coverage of the Edinburgh festivals? For just £2 a month you can get unlimited access to scotsman.com plus 2-for-1 Fringe tickets. For details visit www.scotsman.com/subscriptions

COMEDY

Harriet Dyer: Easily Distra… ★★★★

CabVol 2 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) (Venue 338) until 30 August

I love the way Harriet Dyer laughs at her own jokes. Her laughter spurts out of her like crazy string every time she says something funny, which is a lot.

Harriet has a bag of props, although she’s trying not to use them. She’s worried she might be spitting on a woman in the front row and she keeps thinking the light fitting sticking out of the wall beside her tiny stage is a security camera.

This is a woman who claims to have accidentally ordered a regular online delivery of slugs. Is it possible there is such a thing? Is anything Harriet Dyer is saying true?

I can believe her when she claims to have failed her driving test 37 times. As well as the manic laughter she has a bizarre recurring gesture where she suddenly lifts her elbows to the ceiling and she’s constantly jerking her head from one side to another.

Dyer is partially deaf, which gives her speech a slightly odd feeling of bubbling up from underwater. She also has a tendency to emit high pitched sound effects. She’ll make an odd noise, appear to notice it, say something about it, do it again.

She claims to have never changed at all from when she was four, and I can believe it. She’s absolutely child-like, forever noticing things and saying things that people are really not supposed to say.

Dyer has a wonderfully imaginative, colourful approach to life which is full of joy. She’s like a human cartoon, endlessly firing happiness bombs into the air.

And she makes the audience play along with her. One man, off for a toilet break, covers his ears rather than hear what she might say. She covers her own ears in response and they both fall about with laughter. Claire Smith

COMEDY

Fiona Allen: White Lies ★★★

Dining Room at Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) until 29 August

One third of Smack the Pony, Fiona Allen is back at the Edinburgh Fringe with her second hour, after starting stand-up late in life. Her style is old school observational stand-up, taking a wry look at the micro aggressions which take place in well-heeled southern English suburbia.

The action in her story all takes place over a single day, when Allen decides to come up with the ultimate white lie to avoid a party being held by the neighbours. Despite living in the soft south, Allen is half Lancashire, half Spanish and has a newly discovered case of ADHD, all of which she wrangles as she tries to get out of her obligations without offending anyone.

The high spot is the blunt wisdom of her Spanish mum, whose brutally concise advice springs from experience of war and hardship. I wish she’d do more with her acting chops. When she goes into character she lights up.

I also seem to have caught her on a bit of a low energy night. But her tales of wine on the sofa, conversations in the supermarket and men in lycra earn her nods of recognition and smiles of approval from the crowd. Claire Smith

COMEDY

Hajar, Like Badger ★★★

Hoots @ The Apex (Hoot 5) (Venue 108) until 31 August

As a white-passing, mixed race Anglo-Iranian, initially hiding the light of her singing ambitions under a Muslim hijab, Hajar J Woodland has had a lifetime of people having preconceived ideas about her, proscribing her dreams and curtailing her freedom - from the teachers who cast her as an apple rather than the title role in a production of The Hungry Caterpillar; to The Spice Girls, rejecting the well-meaning Christmas record she wrote for them, to an aggressive stranger barking at her on the bus. Yet chief amongst those trying to put her in her place have been her Iranian father and musician ex-husband, patronising, patriarchal relationships that have been trickier to bend in her favour. With a cracking singing voice spanning everything from pop and chart dance to country, and a fair few costume changes, she relates the tale of how she gradually found herself as a performer and her value as a romantic partner. Woodland's connection with her father is especially problematic. But amidst the horrors of war, she's learned to cheekily twist his shallow religious dogma against him while retaining her love. Ultimately feelgood, Hajar, Like Badger is a lovely blend of song and autobiographical stand-up that'll lift your afternoon. Jay Richardson

COMEDY

The Buddha Wears Prada ★★

The Dragonfly (Venue 414) until 31 August

Buddhists should be aware that Sophia May's hour of 'whistleblowing' might not be for them.

For a show listed in the Comedy section of the brochure, this is not really a show and only incidentally comedy. There are the bones of an interesting tale of malignant narcissism, Buddhist cult life and a fascinating insight into what charging your crystals can do for you, but it needs reworking, proper focus and someone to help it find its funny. The delivery has absolutely no light and shade which doesn't help and although there must be a great show here, this isn't it. Kate Copstick

The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today

Enjoying the Arts & Culture journalism on scotsman.com? Make it easier to find by selecting us as a preferred Google source

Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here