Upstaged by both his support act and the stage design, Ricky Gervais fails to find the winning formula for Science, says Julian Hall. It seems that Ricky Gervais’ Hollywood career is getting in the way of his stand up. At least that is the only conclusion one can draw to explain why Science fares so(…)

Julian Hall is disappointed with The Penny Dreadfuls’ first show they ditched the Aeneas Faversham series. By comparison to last year’s show from these Edinburgh favourites, The Never Man is a crushing disappointment. Gone is the binding narrative and engrossing atmosphere of 2008’s Victorian romp, and part of the Aeneas Faversham series, only to be(…)

Kevin Bridges’ long-awaited solo debut lives up to expectation and even has a greatest hits feel to it, writes Jay Richardson. After five years of performing, Kevin Bridges has finally brought a debut solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe. The burden of expectation upon the Glaswegian will have been tempered by the fact that there(…)

Simon Amstell lays bare his private demons in a show that is impressively candid but less funny than previous offerings, says Jay Richardson. From self-deifying arrogance to morbid vulnerability, advocating consequence-free sex to desperately cuddling himself after masturbation, Simon Amstell’s stand-up explores some emotional extremes, yet the disparity between his confident onscreen persona and his(…)

Andrew Maxwell has set high standards over the years, says Julian Hall, and The Lamp doesn’t live up to them. Since covering my second festival in 2004 no Fringe has been complete without a trip to see the feted Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell – the Perrier winner that got away. Generally a banker (in the(…)

Andrew Lawrence’s 2009 show is a hate list that, while being hugely funny, is just a hate list, and not much more, says Paul Fleckney. You pretty much know what you will get from an Andrew Lawrence gig. Bile. Bile as fluent as birdsong. Whereas other comics shock in the same way a tabloid headline(…)