Monkey Barrel Comedy

Paddy Young probably went into SNL UK the more obscure one out of him and his younger Weekend Update co-star Ania Magliano. But he’d certainly been making waves before that, with a furious post-pandemic workrate that saw him bring up a new Fringe show every year since 2021, including 2023’s Best Comedy Newcomer nominated Hungry, Horny, Scared. Now is his moment to really grab the spotlight with the latest outing for the Scarborough stand-up’s imaginative, hyperactive observational comedy.

A lot has happened to Ania Magliano since she last took a new show to the Fringe: last year she starred in Taskmaster, and this year she’s been one of the brightest stars of SNL UK. Will it have boosted her profile at the Fringe? Probably! She’s playing her biggest venue to date at this year’s edition, albeit she still seems wedded to a nice mid afternoon slot. Peach Fuzz is not a high concept show but more of the youthful stand-up’s signature gossipy observations and ironic send up of Gen-Z narcisissim. In other words, expect a treat.

The relative downgrade in the wellbeing of Western civilzation is liable to be bad for Nish Kumar’s mental health – the political comic gives the impression of taking every one of Trump’s depravities personally – but good for his audience: his mill is overflowing with grist. Expect darkly amusing dissection of the news, delivered by a man who gives every impression of being on the cusp of either a panic attack or combustuing from fury or possibly both. These Edinburgh dates are billed as work-in-progress, but given he launches straight into a national tour in September expect it to be slick as it’s ever going to be come the end of this run.