Edinburgh

The 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins on Friday. I spent most of the early part of this year convincing myself I was going to give it a miss, having been the past two years and becoming quite exhausted on both occasions. It dawned however that my summer would look considerably emptier without it and I knew I'd miss it if I didn't go. It's manic and tiring but ultimately where every lover of comedy wants to be every August. Due to financial considerations, I will only be up for six days from the 16th-21st. I want to enjoy it more from a punter's perspective than from a stand up comedian's perspective this year. That said, I'll be doing two short spots at Fresh Faces At The Free Fringe at 2:50pm at The White Horse (266 Canongate) on the 16th and 19th. So come along to those.

Darren Maskell has posted his comedy recommendations for Edinburgh over at his blog. I shall offer my own, starting with Darren's showcase of his Croydon night 'Daft, Red Hot Sperm (Whales)' which takes place at the Illicit Still at 5:30pm from 8th-29th August. Go and see that, it will be good. Also go and see...

Daniel Kitson (We Are Gathered Here and The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church- saw a preview of the latter on Saturday, a quite extraordinary work)
Stewart Lee
Alun Cochrane
Ava Vidal
Paul Sinha
Jonathan May Bowles- Playing God
Russell Kane
Gavin Osborn
Jason Cook
Jon Richardson
Jake Moore and Nathaniel Metcalfe in 'Fun Dryer'
Jane Hill- Murder for Profit and Pleasure
Richard Herring
Pappy's Fun Club
Paul Merton's Impro Chums
Patrick Monahan
Rhod Gilbert
Robin Ince
Sarah Millican
Short Circuit Comedy
Sanderson Jones
Simon Amstell
Stephen Grant
Tom Adams- Dropped As A Child
Tom Goodliffe and Broderick Chow- Tom and Brody Are So Comedy
Yianni Agisilaou

On the theatrical front, I would recommend going to see the Royal Holloway Theatre Company's production of Crave at C soco at 1:55pm from 5th-31st August and A Year's Hard Labour at 2:05pm at The Counting House from 20th-30th August. I wish the best of luck to everyone going up to do shows. I'm going to try and review everything I see when I'm up there, including Mark Watson's Last Ever 24 Hour Show which may well kill me. Roll on the 16th.

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