EDINBURGH FRINGE : PICKS OF THE DAY – SATURDAY 5TH AUGUST 2023

The first proper day of the Ed Fringe has arrived. It’s wet, humid and over crowded, a typical Edinburgh Festival. Compared to last year the audience numbers are apparently up, which is great for performers, no one wants to see an empty show. The Ed Fringe app is back this year after the controversy in 2022 and this means that punters can search out and buy shows with ease. Though I must say that it feels odd not having a wallet full of physical tickets to have as a token of the event.

CHLOE PETTS: IF YOU CAN’T SAY ANYTHING NICE

Chloe is a little mean at keeping us keen. Her honest insights and laugh out loud routines have even the boomers falling in love with Chloe. She is as dazzling as any Eberechi Eze dribble (it’s not every day you get to make a Crystal Palace reference in a comedy review). You may have to catch her on her UK tour in the autumn, as her Edinburgh run is already selling out fast.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Tickets

MARK WATSON: SEARCH

Mark likes to blur the lines between the stage and the audience. He will greet people outside and even become usher by finding seats for late comers and borrow water from the front row. Mark is one of the most consistently brilliant fringe regulars, engaging in improv science banter one moment, the next sharing important news stories of Joe Pasquale being impaled by a moose. He could have been on stage all night and had the crowd lapping up every word.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Tickets

JAMALI MADDIX: WORK IN PROGRESS

Jamali opens the show by sharing that he wonders what he is doing back in Edinburgh again. Maybe this is due to choosing the wrong jokes at the right time. But we are all very pleased Jamali is back performing in another hot basemen at the fringe. It’s often hard to gauge whether his jokes are written or off the cuff, but he delivers all of his hi jinx with a grin that allows him to get away with anything including asking an audience member to dump her boyfriend. If the show is this entertaining at this stage of the work in progress run, then the finished set will be a triumph .

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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