Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015: comedy reviews

I don’t think Andrew Doherty actually wishes death upon any theatre critics. He certainly didn’t kill me when I came to see his new show. Still, I do think is he was probably genuinely upset by the so-so reception given to last year’s Sad Gay Aids Play – a marked contrast to his roundly-hailed debut Gay Witch Sex Cult – and has explored his hurt feelings in quite spectacularly entertaining way with third show Reviewers Welcome… TO DIE!  It is, on one level, incredibly childish. Continuing the horror comedy streak of Doherty’s previous work, it’s basically a supernatural revenge fantasy about a venal, conceited nepo baby theatre critic named Felix Chatelier being punished by supernatural forces for daring to give Sad Gay Aids Play three stars. Critics make for fun punchbags. But it is, of course, absurd that anyone would make this much fuss about a three star review and of course the author is well aware of this. The thin-skinned Doherty of Reviewers Welcome is as much an exaggerated persona as the weaselly sell-out of Sad Gay Aids Play.  As the feckless Chatelier is lured out to the desolate, Lovecraftian East Midlands town of Billington (theatre heads will get the joke), he in fact becomes gradually more sympathetic as he tries to unravel the demonic mystery that haunts the place. Meanwhile ‘Andrew Doherty’ turns up as a character: a tall, handsome, gruff, hugely successful playwright who never reads his reviews and who everyone loves and admires to an absurd degree.  It...

The flagship venue of legendary Scottish comedy promoter Tommy Sheppard (who also counts the Glasgow, Fife and Falkirk comedy festivals, the Assembly Rooms Fringe venue and two other Stand branches, in Glasgow and Newcastle, among his interests), The Stand Edinburgh is quite simply the king of comedy venues in Scotland’s capital. Its poky wee stage (no bigger than your average Travelodge shower stall) has been graced by the great and good of UK and international comedy – stories still abound of that time Johnny Vegas hijacked an industrial floor buffer for his act, while alt.comedy stars Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie, Simon Munnery and Daniel Kitson all still make regular sojourns here. Local heroes visit frequently as well – Kevin Bridges and Frankie Boyle drop by whenever they have new material to workshop, be it at purpose-booked engagements or as surprise guests at the weekly Red Raw new talent night (where old hands polish new jokes as complete novices step up for the first time). What impresses about The Stand is how, having ticked all the boxes that make it a great live comedy venue, it’s gone on to be a superlative bar as well. The beers on tap include the usual mainstream suspects (Heineken, Fosters), but also feature the locally made (and cherished) Three Hop lager. The food – nachos, burgers and other pub grub favourites – is of a higher standard than that at many nearby joints where the menu is a main feature rather than an optional extra. And the atmosphere –...