tue 15/07/2025

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Fringe: Stuart Goldsmith/ Steve Mason/ Peter Straker

Stuart Goldsmith: he looks clean-cut, but likes to live a bit on the wild side

You may think the very well-presented comic Stuart Goldsmith - clean-shaven and wearing sensible Merrells (“which says I’m not wearing a fleece but I own one”) - is the sort of  bloke your mum always hoped you would end up marrying or having as your...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Shakespeare - The Man from Stratford/ Mick Ferry/ John Grant

The premise of Jonathan Bate’s one-man play, directed by Tom Cairns, is simple but surprisingly effective: a trawl through the seven ages of Shakespeare, from babe to box, told through a mixture of biographical narrative illuminated by relevant...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Celia Pacquola/ Could It Be Forever?/ Sammy J

Celia Pacquola: she has that most Australian of virtues, acute self-awareness of bullshit

Celia Pacquola made her Fringe debut last year after storming various comedy festivals in her native Australia with a show about her boyfriend’s infidelity and, while it was entertaining enough, it lacked a bit of oomph. But her new show packs a...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Daniel Kitson/ Leisa Rea/ Misconception

Daniel Kitson only occasionally performs at comedy venues at the Fringe these days - perhaps a late-night spot here and there, though not a full set - but it has become almost a tradition that he writes a new piece for the Traverse each year. On the...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Doc Brown/ Imran Yusuf

Doc Brown comes on stage in the hip-hop uniform of all-black clothing, lots of bling and black-out shades, and starts rapping “It’s all about me” in suitably bombastic tones. But Brown isn’t all he seems, as the rap peters out, the gear comes off...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Late Night Gimp Fight!/ While You Lie

'Late Night Gimp Fight!': fast-paced sketches on the sexually deviant side

Going to a late-night comedy show at the Fringe is always taking a risk, not least because every drunken fool in the place, with their oh-so-funny heckles, thinks they’re funnier than the performers. And so it proved at the performance I saw of this...

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Edinburgh Fringe: Jason Cook/ Lee Kern/ Barrow Street Theatre

Jason Cook: The Geordie comic's show is about his suspected heart attack last year

He may describe himself as “a Geordie chancer”, but in reality Jason Cook is a warm comic whose material is utterly devoid of cynicism. Yet he’s far from being pious - he spices up his act with caustic barbs for deserving targets (quite often...

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Kris Kristofferson, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

“This song is for my kids – and all their Mommas.” Even at 74, Kris Kristofferson exudes the quietly satisfied air of experience of a man who has spent at least half his life drinking, shagging, smoking and strumming to his heart’s content, and now...

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The Illusionist, EIFF Opening Gala, Edinburgh

Last night’s gala opening of the 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival may have been touched by living history – in particular the presence of Sean Connery (pictured below, arriving at last night's screening), who strode up the red carpet...

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EIFF Launch

I’m just back – goodie bag gripped greedily in paw – from this morning’s launch of the 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs in the Scottish capital from 16-27 June. Since breaking away from the over-crowded August festival calendar...

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Idiots of Ants, Soho Theatre

Idiots of Ants: (left to right) Spiers, Wrighton, Wilson and Tiney

The art of good sketch comedy is in the timing - not just in how gags are delivered, of course, but in realising that some jokes are best done as one-liners while others can be played out over several minutes before being punctuated with a killer...

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Interview: Heiner Goebbels, on staging strange worlds

First, the name. There’s no family link between the 57-year-old German composer and Hitler’s Doctor Death. This Goebbels cuts an impressive figure. Solidly built, with thick white hair and slightly cherubic features, and speaking fluent English, he’...

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