Reading Time: < 1 minuteOne of the most difficult parts about growing older is reckoning with how often our parents’ hopes and fears reflect ours. Paradok Platform investigates this reckoning via their relatable, but at times lukewarm This Natural Scene.
Reading Time: 2 minutesStumbling out of the Grand at Pleasance Courtyard, 45 minutes later than I was meant to, I can unequivocally say that Zach Zucker (the brains behind the brainless persona of Jack Tucker) is a genius.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn her debut stand-up hour A Bite of Yours, Canadian comic Zoe Brownstone delivers punchline after punchline with the smoothness of a Fringe veteran.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn a world where we decide who exactly to hate based on the whims of the Internet, what does a person do when they become ‘The Internet’s Most Hated’?
Reading Time: 2 minutesFull ashtrays, empty bottles, dirty dishes, laundry that’s been hung up for too long and is definitely dry, and an eerie sense that you’re wasting your youth - welcome to Brixton.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBursting with energy and relatability, Isla Fairfield’s Hot Girl Summer is a punchy and poignant look at one girl’s journey to healing
Reading Time: < 1 minuteOne part dystopian game show, one part freaky fairytale - Gamble, co-created by Hannah Walker and Rose Postlethwaite, is a sharp and witty look at the world of commercial online gambling. Walker, who leads the show, is charming and bursting with energy. As we settle in, those who were expecting one more one-woman show about self-destructive behaviour have those expectations flipped immediately on their head.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat Chappell Roan has done for the community of queer women who are just now realising that that one friendship might’ve been more cannot be understated. Thus is the feeling from Gogo Boots Go, a Talkers & Doers production centring around a reunion between two young women at a wedding dress fitting.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRocketing into his Fringe debut, Mark Bittlestock’s I Need a Straight Guy is a tight one-hour journey about coming out, being on the scene, and, ultimately, why so many of the gay stereotypes that Bittlestock often pastiches on his social media have a great deal of heart behind them. Appearing at the top of the show in a rhinestoned England strip, Bittlestock has a confidence of a stand-up who has done dozens of Fringes - his crowd work is excellent, if sometimes going on a little bit too long. It certainly adds to his comedy - especially in the case of the performance I watched, in which a very dry Dutch couple were giving him a run for his money. Full of quick callbacks and brilliant multimedia elements, the show also seeks to dissect, in a small way, Bittlestock’s internet persona, and how that is impacted by his identity. No spoilers, but: the Facebook screenshots are a highlight.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAn American, a Dutchman, and an Englishman walk into a bar - and Derek Mitchell is ready to take the piss out of all of them. An absolutely brilliant, jam-packed hour of frenetic accents, absurdist character comedy, and crowd work worthy of Nobel Peace Prize.