Fringe comedy reviews: Kate Smurthwaite | Ray O Leary | Julian Clary | Chris Forbes | Lucas Jefcoate + more
Our latest batch of Fringe comedy reviews includes a mind-boggling hour of pure witchcraft, a relentless volley of brilliantly crafted jokes, and a glittering showbiz survivor.
Kate Smurthwaite Writes and Performs A Brand New Full Length Stand-Up Show Every Single Day... ★★★★★
Banshee Labyrinth (Venue 156) until 30 August
People do bang on about a Fringe being a place for artists to take risks. Well no one that I can either remember or, indeed, imagine, has taken more of a risk than Kate Smurthwaite, who is writing and performing an entirely new, hour long, show every day of her run, based around audience suggestions from the previous day.
As we file in, to the accompaniment of lavishly scored music, Kate awaits in black fedora and cloak in front of a screen bearing the title of today's show, The Banshee's Tale. Yesterday's audience had wanted a show about the ghosts here in the Banshee Labyrinth, allegedly Edinburgh's most haunted pub. I hope some of them were here, because what a tale we got.
The only explanation of how Smurthwaite could have managed the depth of research – both historical and mythological – involved, while being able to weave the whole thing into an hour of (pretty much) faultless rhyming couplets, is witchcraft. And the horrific Scottish witch hunts of James VI and others loom large over this hour, along with the sad tales of the pub's ghosts themselves, including the eponymous Banshee.
There is an outpouring of fascinating content here and it makes for a wholly gripping hour. There is, of course, a smattering of feminist political point-making, but all – given the subject matter of the hour – entirely warranted and occasion much nodding in the room. We gasp at the revelation that the Witchcraft Acts were not repealed till 1951.
One of the most impressive things (and there are so many) is the fact that when Kate explains she is doing a new show every day and that this one was written overnight, the sound of minds being boggled fills the room. At least 50% of the audience had not had a clue. So I am very sorry for anyone who did not hear this show, you missed something wonderful. Kate Copstick
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Ray O Leary: I Can See O’Leary Now The Ray Has Gone ★★★★
Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 30 August
At one point Ray O’Leary apologises for the lack of structure in his show. It’s true, there is no structure, just a series of brilliantly crafted and very funny jokes, one after another. It does create a bit of unnecessary tension. While twenty minutes of perfectly crafted jokes can be a dream in a comedy club, an hour is a different matter. But far be it from me to tell O’Leary what to do. He can write perfectly crafted jokes.
He’s a curious fellow. Large, lumbering and languid, with a deadpan delivery that suits his flat New Zealand vowels rather well. He begins with a bit of maths-based comedy about how much time he has left to become a success in life. Things do not look good. Although O’Leary has appeared on a ton of Antipodean TV and his clips garner thousands of views online, his economic and personal circumstances are bleak.
But if you need a man to tell you why your dog is probably secretly a conspiracy theorist, or to prove that songwriter Billy Joel is lying to us because he had to make his lyrics rhyme, then Ray is absolutely your man. He has a nifty bit of business involving a two-man play performed by one man, which demonstrates how to solve one of the trickiest moral and political issues in modern life.
Somehow the rather monotone delivery enhances the comic rhythm of his speech. Each one of these routines contains its own structure, its own little world. Every one of them lands the big laugh, relentlessly, reliably, without fail. He may not be following the rules of the Edinburgh Hour – but it’s a treat for all of us comedy nerds to see O’Leary off the YouTube and in the flesh. Claire Smith
Julian Clary: Fully Dilated ★★★
Music Hall at Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) until 23 August
No one could say Julian Clary has not dressed for the occasion. Wearing expensive looking platform boots, a dazzling coat, and drag queen make up, he looks simply fabulous.
He’s decided to follow in the footsteps of other Fringe comics and reveal all, which is what inspires the title of his show. And there is real emotion as he talks about his early career, his hungry promiscuous years and the terror of the AIDS epidemic.
There’s also a bit of showbiz gossip, a look backstage at the Palladium panto and a lot of references to butt plugs and anal warts. Before Clary was a daytime television creature, he was a Fringe creature, and there are people in the audience who still remember him as The Joan Collins Fan Club, performing alongside Fanny the Wonder Dog. Fanny’s last years are poignantly remembered here.
Like all showbiz creatures he’s had his ups and downs, and while the script bristles with wit, the rhythm and delivery are not what they once were. But there’s a survivor’s grit beneath it all. And many of his audience have put on their finest glittery outfits to greet him – giving this homecoming a real feeling of celebration. Claire Smith
Chris Forbes: Father Christmas ★★★
Monkey Barrel Comedy (Monkey Barrel 2) (Venue 515) until 30 August
With climate change's unpredictable consequences, celebrating Christmas in August no longer feels so outlandish. However, even if you're like Chris Forbes' aunt and you fume at how early preparations for the festive season begin, give his Yuletide-themed show a chance.
The comic has a decidedly mixed relationship with the holidays. As a child, he was absolutely committed, penning letters to Santa all year round, complete with diplomatic but constructive criticism of presents received. More recently, it's been tougher, as it was touch and go with the arrival of his baby daughter in the run-up to December 25th.
In his Santa hat and festive knitwear, snow sprinkled and logs roaring on the open fire, Forbes conjures a convivial mood of gathering and nostalgia for winters past. He shares his family traditions, not least the groanworthy dad jokes of his father, whom he credits with inspiring him to take up stand-up.
Inevitably, with time gone by, there's some reflection on those passed. And acknowledgement of the crass gaudiness of the period, with the comic denouncing Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. Deeper and more moving than it initially appears, then more light-hearted than it suddenly threatens to be, the show's a cracker. Jay Richardson
Lucas Jefcoate: If I'm Not Somebody, I'm Nobody ★★★
Assembly Roxy (Venue 139) until 30 August
Emerging from the back of the room with a sung, gastronomic intro, and featuring a gently absurdist audiovisual routine about the confounding aspects of supermarket sandwiches, Lucas Jefcoate's Fringe debut occasionally threatens to veer towards the leftfield. But it's essentially just regular stand-up observations strung across the flailing anxiety of his Gen Z masculinity.
No alpha, he's a recovering ginger with asthma and a belatedly descended testicle. And he presents his set with over-compensating emphasis, the thinly-veiled vulnerability of a man who's consciously putting on a show.
What he lacks in swagger though, Jefcoate makes up for with nimble mockery of such posturing, self-awareness and sensitivity. He can claim the progressive credentials of being in a relationship with a bisexual woman and being the token heterosexual in his queer friendship group, all the while keeping a close eye on his mental health.
For all of his concerns and insecurities, and they are legion, he actually comes across as pretty balanced and amiable, not the poster boy for masculinity in crisis. If I'm Not Somebody, I'm Nobody is a solid introduction rather than a spectacular one. But Jefcoate has a pretty firm grip on his stand-up persona and he's penning serviceable gags expressing it. Jay Richardson
Gag Writer ★★★
Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236) until 22 August
This is surely the most intriguing hour of your Fringe. It is classy, it is charming and with every beautifully modulated word of her various tales, we understand better why Melissa Todd – Oxford-educated direct descendant of Charles I – won SexPositive Influencer of the Year.
Most of tonight's audience come in not even knowing what a 'hard no' is. But I am sure many go out wondering just exactly how painful a caning can be. Melissa – or Miss Matthews, as we are instructed to call her – has bestridden the sex industry in most of its guises for 30 years and we are treated to some highlights.
We meet her clients and their quirks, hear about the challenges of being a stripogram two weeks after giving birth and decide for ourselves what Dr Spock would have said about enlisting your 17-year-old son to be emergency cameraman on a porn film.
This is not comedy, so do not look for big laughs, but it is an hour of smiles and chuckles, fascination and fun. There is even a small amount of audience participation – all completely consensual of course – and tonight's audience participant has gone home with a masochistic memory to treasure. Kate Copstick
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