Show 13: Andrew Maxwell: Sight Return

Having first watched Andrew Maxwell in  2007 with his Perrier nominated show, Waxin', I've enjoyed watching this charmer every few years. He returns with another hour of political wonderings in amongst the musings of various European nationalities and various British and Irish identities.

It's his 21st year the the Festival and his experience is evident in his relaxed, confident performance. This is a comedian at utter ease on stage. His crowdwork eases us in to thoughts on Brexit, on being part of the European community and from there we springboard into a variety of topics, from family life to the state of Australian politics and the pride of the people of Cork.

It's a very funny hour from a very engaging comic.

Score: 8/10

Venue: Assembly at George Square Lecture Theatre

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 20:30

Price: £13 (312) weekdays, £15 (£14) weekend

Show 12: Mr Swallow - Houdini

Nick Mohammed's no stranger to character comedy and performing. His previous Mr Swallow show, Dracula! was tremendously well received as a mad, almost shambolic musical caper. After hearing his Comedian's Comedian episode I was intrigued.

Mr Swallow is an energectic, almost frenetic, character aided by his two patient assistants, played by Kieren Hodgson and David Elms. From the start, with Mr Swalllow trapped in a clear box thumbing through a book about escapology, miming with the audience and making silent pleas for help, you cna tell it's not going to be your usual comedy show.

What proceeds is an hour of sharp comedic musical numbers, witty dialogue and thrilling escapology. You can tell this show is a labour of love. Nick Mohammed, David Elms and Kieren Hodgson manage to make their performances loot effortless, and the general tomfoolery provides a delightful and beguiling hour of comedy. It's remarkable that the energy and quality is consistent throughout the show. It's well worth a watch and I'm sure that MR Swallow will return with more escapades in future Festivals.

Score: 8/10

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Forth

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 19:00

Price:£13 (£12) weekday, £14 (£13) weekend

Show 11: Rhys James: Forgives

Though young, Rhys James has been in the comedy business since 2009 and made his Edinburgh debut in 2010 as part of a package show. This is his third solo show (as far as my 5 minute research can tell me) at Edinburgh.

His show starts with a pre-recorded audio set piece about how he's changed and become a bigger and better comedian. His show generally revolves around his life right now, and what he had thought he'd be as a 10 year old, and the generational gap between the millenials and the baby boomers.

He's certainly got a carefully crafted hour of thoughts, annoyances and anecdotes. It's fast-paced and well rehearsed but with this performance it felt stiff and forced. He's certainly got plenty of talent and ideas, but he seems to lose something in translation. It feels frantic, though that may match his anger, and the jokes are good but they just don't always hit the mark.

Regardless, there's still plenty of potential and it'll be interesting to see how Rhys James develops as a comedian.

Score: 5/10

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Beside

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 16:45

Price: £10 (£9) weekdays, £11.50 (£10) weekend

Show 10: Alfie Brown: Scissor

Alfie Brown's now in his 11th year of performing stand-up. After hearing his Comedian's Comedian episode, I thought I'd see what he had to say.

Undoubtedly, Alfie Brown is fearless and confident on stage. He's got ferocious energy and a sharp disdain for some aspects of modern life, namely selfies, and love.

He's a mix of intelligent ranting, vivid cynicism and amusing metaphors. He's got strong opnions, and most likely won't be to everyone's taste. He certainly has a decent amount about sex, but overall this is a clever show about the modern world and what's wrong with it.

He's talented, he's passionated, he's insightful but the material doesn't quite gel with me unfortuantely.

Score: 6/10

Venue: The City Cafe, Blair Street

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 15:00

Price: Free

Show 9: Daniel Kitson Presents an Insufficient Number of Undeveloped Ideas Over Ninety Testing Minutes Starting at Noon

I had already bought tickets to see Daniel Kitson's work in progress show for Thursday 25th August, but when the opportunity to purchase spare tickets for Kitson comes along one would be a fool to pass up the chance. Luckily I managed to wrangle some tickets from Twitter. Ah, what a world we live in.

This show was meant to be a series for Kitson to work on material for a large gig in London for October, hoever it appears that the gig has fallen through and the Edinburgh work in progress shows are now, in his words, "a contractual obligation".

Without something to really work towards, Kitson has free reign over the audience for a full 90 minutes. Outrageously, he seemingly has no pre-prepared material and riffs solidly on minute details about random audience members and never-ending tangential diversions on personal anecdotes. That said, only Kitson could pull off such an audacious feat and make it an intensely funny experience.

He starts the show with an impromptu ditty about a front-row audience member putting away their cardigan (honestly, how many comedians would think of such a thing?) and immediately sets a playful atmosphere for the show. Given the format of it, there are natural ups and downs in energy, though Daniel Kitson appeared acutely aware of the dips in laughter.

He continues his ongoing questioning of his reputation ("why won't you let me be human?" [or words to that effect], he pleads) and explains to one audience member, who (a rareity in a Kitson gig) was a newcomer to his material, that he does three types of show: profound meta-narrative theatre, life-changing stand-up and, as he says, "this gash". Gash it maybe, it's still rather enjoyable.

Very few comedians could pull off a gig like this one, or make ocular herpes quite so entertaining.

Score: 8/10

Venue: The Stand Comedy Club

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 12 noon

Price: £5 (check twitter and the venue for spare tickets and returns)

Show 8: Simon Munnery: Standing Still

An established act well known for surreal sets and well regarded for his skill and satire, I've always been intrigued by Simon Munnery but never given him a go. This year was the year.

Unfortuantely the combination of sleep deprivation and an insanely hot and humid room meant I slightly struggled to keep my mental focus on the show. However, Simon Munnery does open the show with quite an intriguing nihilistic monologue  while rotating a metal bird attached to his hat and knocking down some metallic towers with the EU flag and the UK flag. This is followed swiftly by some dressing down of UK politicians, all rather topical post-Brexit.

He then goes on to more tame material about his family and observations on life, which are all rather clever and funny, but couldn't quite keep my attention. Still, he's a veteran comedian and worthwhile watching.

Score: 6/10

Venue: The Stand comedy Club, Stand 1

Dates: 20-29 August

Time: 16.00

Price: £12 (£10)

Show 7: Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel

Austentatious have developed quite the name for themselves, and many of their individual performers have found well-deserved success as solo performers at the Fringe of late (namely Joseph Morpurgo, Andrew Hunter Murray and Cariad Lloyd). Improvised comedy can, so often, swing wildly from being tedious and cringeworthy to being a breathtaking display of creativity, wit and joyful play. Thankfully the Austentatious cast are skilled enough in improv and work so well together that they made a delightful hour.

Inviting audience members to conceive a missing Jane Austen novel, the cast randomly pick a title on stage and then improvise the story int eh style of Jane Austen, with frocks and all.

The show I watched was 'Austen: AirBnB'. Impressively they managed to tie together a Lord's jilted romantic experiences, the struggles of a newly founded bed and breakfast place, its rivalry with the hotel and a woman who just can't help but take her desk everywhere. It was an entertaining, endearing and exhilerating hour of improv and doubtless their other performances are likely to enthrall equally well, regardless of the title they randomly choose.

This is top notch improvised comedy.

Score: 9/10

Venue: Udderbelly at George Square

Dates: 20-21 August

Time: 13.30

Price: £12.50 (£13.50)