Punchline recommends Mark Simmons: One Linererer

Words by Susan Stewart The Edinburgh Fringe is an excellent platform for comedians and performers to talk about big issues, and this year has certainly brought a lot of well-deserved hot topics to the forefront of comedy. However, sometimes you just need hundreds of jokes thrown at you really quickly, to momentarily forget how grey

Punchline recommends Rosie Jones: Fifteen Minutes

Words by Duncan Rosie Jones welcomes us warmly with a glint in her eye, ready to tease the audience with her sparkling wit and juicy surprises. She’s willing to take a joke to extreme lengths, Borat style, with gleeful enjoyment in the social discomfort of others. The fact that she has cerebral palsy is not

Punchline recommends Ciarán Dowd: Don Rodolfo

Words by Suzy Romer For an hour every night, Ciarán Dowd converts his venue into a box of delights. As soon as he fights his way onto stage, we are thrilled by his swishing sword, black frilled shirt and ravishing eye liner. Add in a Spanish accent (with Irish undertones), outrageous tales of derring do

Punchline recommends Kieran Hodgson: ’75

Words by Suzy Romer Kieran Hodgson is a multi-talented writer and performer who masters any subject of his choosing. This year he provides a rich, frothy hour of comedy from the most unlikely of sources; the story of how the UK joined Europe. It turns out that there’s a heck of a lot we don’t

Punchline recommends Darren Harriott: Visceral

Words by Suzy Romer Spending an hour with Darren Harriott is as relaxing and entertaining as a great conversation with friends. His warm, easy-going manner has the audience laughing from his first words and before we know it, we are threading in and out of stories about his childhood and his current life in London.

Punchline recommends Lazy Susan: Forgive Me, Mother!

Words by Suzy Romer If you haven’t seen Lazy Susan before then this is the year to go. Every year there’s one show I have to see twice and this is it. They perform high-energy, engaging comedy with a freaky dark edge that sweeps you up from the beginning and takes you over completely for

Punchline recommends Lou Sanders: Shame Pig

Words by Suzy Romer You have to be in a room with Lou Sanders at least once in your life because a Lou Sanders show is one of the defining experiences of the Fringe. She deals swiftly with stragglers and her sparky one liners are a joy to behold. Once everyone is paying proper attention

Punchline recommends Alex Edelman: Just for Us

Words by Suzy Romer When Alex Edelman introduces himself as a Jewish comedian who spends a lot of time in New York, I immediately think joyfully of comedy heroes like the Marx Brothers and Moss Hart. It’s a shock when it turns out that the abuse he gets online and in real life is as

Punchline’s 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Recommendations

Here they are! Our picks for this year’s Fringe. As usual, we advise you to see these acts live as YouTube just doesn’t do them justice. Alex Edelman: Just for Us With sizzling stories ranging from Stephen Fry and Prince William to Nazis, this bright young comic sheds blazing light on current themes in Britain

Punchline Quizzes The Pin

Who puts your pants in the washing machine? A man called Ian Wentworth who we honestly can’t recommend. Which words make you giggle or give you an inner flip of amusement? Cackling too hard to answer this properly – we’ll let you guess which word set us off. (it’s ‘make,’ uh oh, off we go