Show 3: Steen Raskopoulos – The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess

An accomplished, talented comic improviser and comedian from New Zeaand, this is the second of his shows I've seen at the Festival.

This year's show's got a lot more audience interaction that last year's, and Steen Raskopoulos pitches it perfectly: the tasks are generally simple, and even the more involved skit involving dancing gets the participants on stage going for it (though I'm sure he's get an eye for picking the right people for the right games).

The show is a seemingly separate group of sketches which all come together in a rather neat narrative finale, and along the way there's a journey of deft comic timing and performance, and well crafted audience participation pieces. He works well with the material the audience brings, and it's a sign of an intelligent writer and performer to craft the games and scenarios that brings jeopardy and laughs. He's even brought back the timid character, Timmy, to the show.

A thoroughly entertaining show. I'm looking forward to seeing his two-hander improv show, The Bear Pack later this festival.

Score: 8/10

Venue: Underbelly, 69 Cowgate

Dates: 5th-27th August

Time: 20:00

Price: £11.50 weekdays, £12.50 weekends

Show 2: Milton Jones Is Out There

My second show of the festival was another veteran performer and a comedian I'd been wanting to see for a while: Milton Jones. One of the famous one-liner comedians of the UK, and being partial to a pun myself, I thought he would be worthwhile watching.

He's certainly got a very distinct style: low-key, aloof, very steady - it makes for an interest contrast to Tim Vine's frenetic, fast paced style.

Milton Jones opens with a slightly bizzare but interesting whimsical prop-assisted bit about Brexit, an idea that he returns to a few times during the show with various props. It's a show with clever, subversive one liners and a section where flags of the UK and Europe engage in various dialogues - it's probably the closest Milton Jones has ever got to political observations, and and he pulls it off.

Overall it's an entertaining hour from Milton Jones, though his laid back, gentle rhythm gave it a feeling of slow pace that didn't help with the energy.

 

Score: 6/10

Venue: Assembly on The Mound

Dates: 3rd-20th August (not 14th)

Time: 19:30

Price: £18

Show 1: Ed Byrne: Spoiler Alert

Ed Byrne returns with an hour titled after his material about his spoilt, posh, middle class English-accented children, though this only forms around half the show's material, at the beginning and end. His other riffs range from tales of his outdoor hiking to tussling with his wife over purchasing an Aga and a dig at Trump.

His charm and affable nature honed with 20 odd years at comedy makes Ed Byrne a great entertainer for sure, and he's got some killer lines in the set (a snipe at Love Island made for an inspired punchline). The middle half, however, does lag somewhat, though the people next to me frequently checking their watches was a bit harsh in my opinion. The beginning and end are by far the strongest parts of the show; he's chosen his structure well. The material and ideas are there, but maybe some fine tuning would lift this preview show. Nevertheless, an enjoyable hour from one of my favourites.

Score: 7/10

Venue: Assembly George Square LectureTheatre

Dates: 2nd-27th August (not 14th)

Time: 19:30

Price: £18.50 weekends, £17 weekdays

Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Hello hello.

I think first I need to make a rather late apology. Extreme laziness got the better for me last year and, despite maybe watching 25+ shows last year, I never wrote anything beyond what appears to be show 16.

This year I vow will be different. As a testament to my mental and literary prowess I promise to complete the necessary entries for each and every show I watch at the Edinburgh Festival 2017, and it's going to be in the region of 40+ shows this year. This feat should be helped somewhat by a majestic return to The Athens Of The North for my job.

Matthew is back in business.

A return to living in Edinburgh as well as a job with luxiuriously sociable hours means I've booked to see a show nearly every day of the festival. It's going to be a new personal best this year and this blog will be a document to this landmark period - not that anyone will study this in decades to come. This small, quiet, hidden corner of the blogging atmosphere will doubtless attract little attention, but it'll make for a nice nostalgia trip when I almost certainly hit an advanced state of senility in my dotage.

Edinburgh Festival 217 starts tonight with Ed Byrne - a favourite of mine. It'll be interesting to see if he'll draw upon his recent BBC series with Dara O' Briain and his travels to South East Asia, or his passion for Munro bagging.

There's a tantilising mix of performers at this year's festival, and interestingly a paucity of big names. The field is wide open for this year's awards. It'll be intriguing to hear who becomes popular through word of mouth and who'll take the critics' attentions.

Here's to Edinburgh Festival 2017.

Show 16: Daniel Kitson Presents an Insufficient Number of Undeveloped Ideas Over Ninety Testing Minutes Starting at Noon

Yeah I saw Daniel Kitson again.

He was amazing as usual. This time we guessed an audience member's name and other hinjix. How that man can work a crowd and riff like he does is incredible. Sadly the vibe pump did not featur ethis time round.

Show 15: Mark Cooper-Jones: Geographically Speaking

Former Geography teacher, Mark Cooper-Jones, presents an hour of geography-based riffs and musings though predominantly this is an hour of a man establishing his privilege and status with a generous helping of comedian pullback and reveals and a delightful use of the good old-fashioned overhead projector.

Mark Cooper-Jones opens the show with a modified extending-matching-type-question about people's geography knowledge and their perceptions of the subject - minorly risky, potential for falling flat but his energy and crowd work manages to keep us engaged, and from there we go to a nice whimsical representation of the show's structure (essentially semi-shambolic, but he's painted himself into a likeable character so we're on board with it) and onwards to an extended love-letter about cartography amusingly interspersed with evidence of Marl Cooper-Jones' academic achievements.

He runs the risk of coming across as arrogant and haughty, and at times he doesn't quite manage to create an approachable persona, but perhaps that's not his aim. Nevertheless he's certainly assured and Knows well very how he wants to perform. Alongside all this are some very good jokes, side-steps and the occasional audience ribbing. A very entertaining hour.

Score: 7/10

Venue: Movement

Dates: 24-27 August

Time: 15:45

Price: Free

Show 14: Josie Long and Martin Williams: Investigations

Josie Long has teamed up with investigative journalist Martin Williams to uncover social and political injustices that can't quite be released publically in print media.

It's a smallish, intimate room with a stage adorned almost inexplicably with a number of potted plants (it turns out they're trying to see if they can add one piece of random rubbish they can find each day to the stage). Josie Long's passion for social justice and political reform blends well with Martin William's thorough investigative skills. They make a good team on-stage with Josie Long driving most of the humour and some rather charming obviously staged jokes for Martin Williams to share the comedy torch.

It's refreshing to see Josie Long's bright enthusiastic optimism for the future, despite how bleak it may seem for us left-leaning citizens. There's light at the end as Long and Williams show how Williams' investigations led to the (minor) disciplining of a Baronness and revealing that literally anyone in the UK can apply to be a Lord.

Overall it's a charming and fun hour of commentary about social injustice and political corruption.

Score: 7/10

Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Stand 5

Dates: 24-28 August

Time: 12noon

Price: £10 (£9)