Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Desiree Burch / Andy Parsons

Desiree Burch, Monkey Barrel ★★★★

Desiree Burch is a bundle of energy as she comes on stage and gives us a warning about the subterranean venue she’s in. It’ll get hot, the Taskmaster favourite tells us – but maybe that’s just her as she going through the perimenopause, and in The Golden Wrath she’s going to tell us all about it.

She starts by running through the differences between the various generational groups in the room. At 46 she just falls into the Gen X group, who went through AIDS, drugs culture and serial killers – the very things that Millennials now do podcasts about, she says drily. 

She’s kind to Baby Boomers – it’s not their fault that houses cost about £10 back in the day – and tells the Gen Z women in the room to enjoy their twenties because of what’s coming down the line.

Perimenopause – the bit before menopause – sounds like a riot (but not in a good way); it can cause 66 symptoms, everything from vaginal dryness and loss of libido to brain fog. The American gives us the lowdown, mining her own experience to describe how monumental (emphasis on the mental) the effects can feel.

Burch – informed and passionate – gives a barnstorming performance as she spreads the message about an issue that has affected her life for the past few years. She has some serious points to make – and her newfound respect for her mother’s experience of that time in her life is moving – but mostly this is a laugh-fest during which you will learn a lot.

• Touring from 3 October

Andy Parsons, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★

We’re going through some political upheaval – domestically and globally – aren’t we? So you would think that more comics at the Fringe would address the new world order, but few do. So thank goodness we have Andy Parsons to cast a satirical – and cynical – eye over the current state of UK plc in Please #@!$ Off to Mars.

He’s eminently qualified to do so, he says, as he has read his son’s GCSE economics textbook. As he reminds us, one recent Chancellor of the Exchequer – Kwasi Kwarteng – and the current one, Rachel Reeves, are supposedly more qualified on paper with his PhD and her Master's in the subject but, you know…

Mentioning HS2 and water companies, Parsons asks why we are so shit at things in the UK. But then he looks to America, where Donald Trump has filled his Cabinet with “differently qualified” members.

Along the way he delves into Elon Musk, immigration, assisted dying and the Gaza situation. They may be serious subjects, but Parsons always raises big laughs, voicing the bemused frustration that so many of us feel about the calibre of politicians who lead us. Talking of which, Liz Truss – remember her? – gets a mention, too.

He ends with a neat solution to the problem that Reform UK may pose for the main parties at the next election, but suspects they won’t listen to him. You should, as you’ll laugh a lot.

• Touring from 4 September
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