Harun Musho'd : Why I Don't Talk to People About Terrorism, Pilgrim, PBH Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Good to visit a new (to us) Fringe venue, a very interesting looking bar just off the Cowgate, with the venue in a curtained off back room.  Great use of old suitcases in the bar.

Musho’d has an Arabic name, but triple nationality (and none of them are Iranian or Libyan…).  But he explains why not talking about terrorsim remains the best policy for him, and a lot about his highly dysfunctional and diversely multinational family.  

He has a civil service HR background, so maybe that’s why he enjoys ticking off lists for his audiences so much.  And very entertaining they can be.  It’s a cosy show that draws you in, despite lacking fluency at times.  There’s a lot of strong and imaginative material, making good use of his relationships with others.  And a Monty Python type rant thrown in which is excellent.

Very enjoyable.

Harun Musho'd Reads Bad Political memoirs (So You Don't Have To), Strathmore Bar, PBH Free Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Very much still a Work in progress, this Free Fringe show takes a look a four recent volumes of memoirs from distinctly non-literary figures. Books by (?) Prince Harry, Nadine Dorries, Liz Truss and Matt Hancock are not something most sensible people would consider worth a look. So Musho'd has done it for us, and provides the highlights. Well, lowlights.

Harun has some professional insight into most of these works, having worked in the Houses of Parliament until a couple of years ago, so this isn't just someone having a dig. He has some insider knowledge of a lot of the events being written about. But he's also there to be funny, and extremely personable, and with such dire source material he has plenty to work from.

He reads out selected quotes which suggest all four 'authors' write dreadful prose (Hancock the only real exception), misunderstand the world around them, indulge in exculpatory self deception, and don't shirk from lies where they can advance their own aggrandisement. They also suggest a great lack of editing!

It's entertaining stuff, and at the end he explains how he intends to develop the show, making it more about the 14 year disaster of tory rule (so Harry will go, Cameron comes in).

Worth seeing it for itself, but also to see this current incarnation to be able to compare it with the finished article this time next year.

Aidan Goatley - 10 Films With My Dad, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe (PBH Free Fringe)

 It's back! Goatley's most successful, and award winning, show has returned to the Fringe. All the qualities that made it a hit in the past are still there, but a few new jokes and anecdotes shoehorned in.

In the show he tells of how difficult his relationship with his father has often been, as they are very different personalities, and that when they did bond it was usually through going to see a movie. Goatley takes us through ten films that have marked seminal moments in the process. Moments of misunderstanding and embarrassment are related with a strong eye for visual descriptions and plenty of self deprecating humour. There's audience interaction too, but nothing that would be likely to cause discomfort. This a gentle kind of comedy, often looking at the kind of nuances of family life to which everyone can relate. And you may feel a tear creeping upon you in the emotional ending.

As I said above, this show has been on the go for more than a decade now, and remains as good as ever. If you haven't seen it yet - Why not??

Aidan Goatley, Ten Films With My Dad, is on at 19.40 in the Voodoo Rooms until the 27th. This is a Free Fringe show.

Don't Crap in Your Onesie Matilda, The Counting House, Free Fringe

 An indoor gig for a change.  Which felt odd at least to begin with.  Queued up outside, walked in socially distanced column, masked, up to the room, to find the capacity not much reduced from normal despite some efforts to introduce social distancing.  There were bubbles of two and four seats, but with rows not really spaced out much, and the gaps between bubbles little more than a chair width, the claim that this was a socially distanced event was more in name than reality.  And when the door was closed...

Fortunately once the show was underway the laughter helped dispel the discomfort.  Ben Harrington refelcted on the trials of becoming a middle aged family man.  Nothing disastrous, life threatening or tragic.  Just the minor irritations of getting older, having kids, trying to live lie a proper adult.  And he has a good fund of stories, and punchlines, to take us through the forty five minutes.  Amiable, unthreatening, unchalenging humour, but sometimes that's perfect.  I enjoyed his tales of camping with children, the embarrassments provided by a big inflatable crocodile, and how his body is now playing unexpected tricks on him.  And yes, the title does feature and makes sense within the context, so that was a bonus, eh?

Stuart Mitchell : Is It Just Me? (Work in Progress), Beehive, Scottish Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Quite what this performance could have been is hard to say.  Mitchell worked hard (and with considerable tolerance) in the face of constant disruption from 3 drunken wifies from Coatbridge and a couple from Falkirk asking random questions ("when did you have your first Tunnocks Teacake?"...).  Standard fare for a club comedian, but unusual from Fringe audiences.

When he could get on with his routine it was clear there was some good material in there, with nicely crafted punchlines and some wonderfully bad puns.  He's got some good ideas, his topics very much coming from everyday life, and there was a good show lurking in there.  It didn't stand much chance on this particular night thought.  Coatbridge has a lot to answer for...

Stuart Mitchell : Is It Just Me?  (Work in Progress) had it's final performance in the Beehive on 25 August.

Ashley Storrie : Hysterical, Counting House, Free Fringe

Starting with a definition of hysteria, and particularly as how it was once applied to women, Storrie ventures into the territory of her own mental health problems and how performing comedy works as therapy for her.  Whether it's chatting with the audience before the show, or exploring her own problems, she's assured, energetic and always very funny (albeit with a tendency to giggle at her own jokes which can verge on the annoying at times).  Autism, gangsters, her own development (or not) as a person and the success of her mother's career (big eye roll...) come together with a hilarious sex scene enhanced with some great sound effects.  At times brave in confronting her own issues, it's a well rounded set that produces the laughs while also leaving you something to think about.

No surprise that the queue to get in is so long.

Ashley Storrie : Hysterical had it's final performance at the Counting House on 25 August.

Janey Godley : Godley on the Fringe, Counting House, Free Fringe

Come in, come in, park your arses, stop fannying about.  Janey gets the audience organised before the show's even started and will soon let you know if you're not doing it right.

This time she had American comic Matt Davis open, a short spot on his confusion of how we do things in Scotland.  very funny.

Godley is a one-off, just playing herself and telling stories.  Warm, human, unable to suffer fools and bitingly critical of the likes of Trump and the idiots behind brexshit.  Stories from her home life, comedy work, travelling around.  She feeds off her observations of life, relationships and encounters.  All in a hard boiled Glasgow wifie persona that fires out dead pan gag after gag.

Janey took a seat with her back to the audience to perform some of her now famed voiceovers which have become a huge social media hit.  Short clips of Trump, May, Johnson, Sturgeon, and many others are reduced to comic figures by the words she puts in their mouths.  Soup pots, caravans and the Sandras feature highly in the repertoire.

There's nobody quite like Godley, and her shows are jam packed each night.  It's a Free Fringe show so you have to queue to get in - be there early.  About an hour early if you want a good seat.  She's worth it.

Godley on the Fringe is on at the Counting House until 25 August.

Godley's Cream 20 Years and Counting, Counting House, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Celebrating her 20th straight year on the Fringe, Godley chats about her upbringing in Glasgow, marriage into a gangster family, running a pub, being married to a man with autism and outwitting the police.  And when I say 'chat' I mean relate caustically and hilariously.  Blunt observations with a twist, Godley commands the room and immediately feels like everyone's pal.  She'll insult the hypocrisy and cant of catholics and protestants with equal fervour, but reserves special venom for the current US president, with whom she has history.  We're treated to the 2 iconic photos of Janey holing anti-Trump placards which went globally viral after his visits to Turnberry in 2016 and this year.  And she doesn't spare her critics either.

Sharp, acerbic, yet almost intimately friendly in her delivery, Godley is still one of the best comedians Scotland has.  And one of the best, and most socially aware, on the Fringe.  Highly recommended (every year!).

This was Janey Godley's final show of the 2018 Fringe.

Nicky Wilkinson : Happy, Espionage, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Lists, games, music, sweets, parties and sausage rolls are just a few of the things that make Wilkinson happy, and all of them appear in this show.  having decided there were already enough angst ridden comics on the fringe she set out to create an hour that was simply fun, and started with her own happy things.

She drags in lots of help from the audience who are split into 2 teams and get to play the music, keep the scores and join in the proceedings.  A pub quiz, pass the parcel, setting a world record, they're all in there, along with a tin of mackerel.

It's consistently fun, just a bit daft, and and she succeeds in her aim of sending everyone out with a smile on their face.  A happy hour.

This was Nicky Wilkinson's final show at the 2018 Fringe.

Christian Reilly : Gig Economy, Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Musical comedy can be a pretty hit and miss class of entertainment.  Fortunately Reilly falls strongly on the right side of that divide and proves immediately likeable.

In a straw cowboy hat and guitar in hand he launches into a series of mood chords, pastiches, mash ups and outright silliness.  It's fast paced, well thought out and shows him to be a more than competent guitarist with a decent singing voice.  He plays blues and country and pop and rock and pretty much anything, adapting his voice to the genre or the character being lampooned.  And saving us the trouble of paying to see superstars as he takes on the guises of Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, Donald Trump and more.

Above all it's consistently funny, be it the song lyrics, the jokes in between or the facial expressions that accompany his music.  There are good digs at the likes of Trump, Bono, "Tommy Robinson" and others, so his politics are sound too.  Towards the end he was joined by a fiddler who added a bit of class to some Irish and country sounds.

It's a bit different, often clever, it made me laugh - a lot - and an hour whizzed by.  One of the gems of the Free Fringe.

Christian Reilly is on in the Liquid Rooms at 17.20 until 26 August.

Iain F M Smith Presents.... My Finest Hour!, Southsider, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Smith began by telling us he was more of a storyteller than a comedian, and sells himself short for this is a very funny show.  His grandfather was a WW2 hero, whose portrait now hangs in Edinburgh Castle, and this is partly his tale, but mostly about Smith's thoughts on how he himself measures up to the legacy.  His tale takes us through some of the more bizarre episodes from his childhood, a coming of age, and discovery of his own kind of fighting spirit.

It also contains practical jokes, embarrassment, goats, nettles and lot of puppies. Indeed it's not only entertaining but also informative, and you'll leave with some new knowledge in your brain.  It might not always be useful knowledge, but it is new... and you'll love the facts about goats.

Smith is a charming and engaging storyteller who's put together a lovely, warming show that reflects on our differences and similarities as human beings.  Well worth making the trip to this slightly off the beaten track Free Fringe venue.  Highly recommended.

Iain F M Smith presents... My Finest Hour! is in the Southsider at 14.05 until 25 August.

PS This show has a strong anti-fascist message, so is not advised for Daily Mail readers...

Claire Ford : Unboxed, The Caves, Edinburgh Fringe

Cardboard boxes featured heavily in a show that mixed stand up, sketches and AV material.  Her father ran a packaging company, and cardboard has literally been prominent in her life, but being boxed in by circumstances was the real underlying theme.  In her opening lines she told us this was a story of her life, but written as she wanted and not always true, and in retrospect this felt like a mistake.

Ford takes us through some of the major events in her life, sometimes acting out conversations with others, sometimes showing film footage from TV or taken herself, interspersed by narration.  The sketches work well, and her brilliant acting and physical comedy abilities shine through.  The stand up bits les so, where she seems far less sure of herself, and even managed to miss out a chunk of the show.  It feels under rehearsed, lacking belief, a work in progress.

Then there's the structure.  Two traumatic events - the suicide of her brother and the death of her father - are introduced to us almost incidentally, without the build up in tension they deserved.  I'm assuming these were real life happenings, but at the time it was hard to know how to react.

All of which makes this show sound like a flop.  But Ford has such an endearing stage persona that you find yourself willing her to do well, and there are plenty of laughs.  Yet there's sense that there is a very good show buried in here that needs to be dragged out.  Personal tragedy is a staple of good comedy, but needs to be handled in a way that brings the audience along on the journey, not leaving them confused about where they fit in.  Unboxed doesn't manage that feat.  Well, not yet.  I'd love to see a better written version back on the Fringe next year.

Claire Ford : Unboxed is in The Caves at 14.00 until 26 August.

The Full Irish, Whistlebinkies, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Need a pre-lunchtime show to kick off your Fringe day?  You could do a lot worse than try The Full Irish.  MC Chris O'Neill introduces four comedians showcasing something of their work.  Of course they'd like you to come and see their full length shows, so they want to impress.  O'Neill did a good job as warm up man from a slow start.

First act was Roger O'Sullivan.  He was initially thrown by the presence of a kid (about 12 years old) in the front row, as his material is very definitely adult.  What were the parents thinking?  But he adapted his material swiftly and became even funnier in doing so.  A nice relaxed style, standard observational comedy, well delivered, and a new meaning for Paw Patrol.

Andrew Nolan was a big smiley presence, concerned that approaching middle age had made him wear Birkenstocks.  Erin McGathy bounced on to stage and did 'impressions'.  Her short mimes each followed by wonderfully bizarre explanations of what we'd just been watching, like the woman who held up apples in supermarkets hoping someone would ask why (she'd been proposed to in an orchard).  Finally there was Colin Chadwick who explained about the devious tricks he'd played on his girlfriend and the outcome that backfired, a laid back way of talking contrasting with the quality of his jokes.

Four excellent acts, all of whom I'd be happy to see more of, McGathy my favourite for her more original build ups to her gags.  Who you get to see changes daily so I've no idea if this level of quality will be maintained, but it's certainly worth taking a chance on.

The Full Irish is on at Whistlebinkies at 11.00 until 26 August.

Ashley Storrie : Morning Glory, Counting House, Edinburgh Free Fringe

After a bit of chat with her audience Storrie laments that, despite having a famous comedian as her mother, she doesn't have the right background for comedy.  She had a happy childhood, a good education and lives a comfortable life.  Where's the laughs in that?  But everyone else in her family has their sad story to tell, and that, and some of their odd behaviours, gives her more than enough material to work with.

Ashley's got an inventive way with words and comes up with some wonderfully original phrases, so even quite mundane tales come to life and provide laughs.  You get into trouble at school and your mother's reaction isn't quite what the headmistress expected.What to make of a Xmas present that would have been ideal in 70s Belfast, but wildly inappropriate for 21st century Glasgow?  No matter, it will come in handy later as a sex aid.  And there's a Melania and Donald bedroom encounter you wish she wasn't so good at painting pictures of....

Storrie is a confident presence on stage, quick with comebacks and with areal honesty to her comedy.  Highly recommended.

Ashley Storrie is on in The Counting House at 18.45 until 27 August.

Jon & Nath Like To Party, Free Sisters, Edinburgh Free Fringe

Infectious silliness always has a place on the Fringe and this show joyfully provides it.  Fast paced sketch comedy with low budget props, barely recognisable impressions, audience participation and Jehovah's Witnesses.  A delightful mix of awful and wonderful.  There's a police drugs raid, life with various American film stars, deconstructed pizza, exorcism of demons and a gloriously tasteless sex scene.  All delivered with a self deprecating enthusiasm that makes you laugh at them laughing at themselves.

If you need an early afternoon hour of daftness then this is just what you need.

The Simpsons Taught Me Everything I Know, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh Fringe

I only found myself drifting into this show because one of our party felt cold and it was the first thing on offer in our vicinity, so expectations weren't high.  But even they weren't met.

It's basically a vehicle for showing clips, quotes and pictures that come from or are related to the well known cartoon.  With some attempt to make it seem relevant to real life.  His enthusiasm appears genuine though, and goes down well with others in the audience who shared his knowledge.  Which didn't leave much for the rest of us.

Yes, the show title does give a strong hint about the subject matter, but it's still not asking much to cater for those who haven't spent half their life cartoon watching (although there was one good Donald Trump joke).  However he does rely heavily on there being some ignorance in the audience, as this provides him with a stooge.  It's a technique many comedians use, but most have the grace and decency to thank their 'victim' for taking part and apologies for 'using' them.  Not Yianni, who continually picked on one person, trying (not very effectively) to make out their ignorance of yellow made up people was some kind of character flaw, and not coping well when receiving comeback.  I can't have been alone in thinking he made for a pathetic figure at times, a victim of his own insecurities.

Best avoided unless you've watched every single episode of The Simpsons at least twice.  And don't have much of a life.

Max Dickins : My Groupon Adventure, T-Bar, Edinburgh Fringe

His girlfriend has dumped him because he's not spontaneous enough, and his life is boring.  And then Max Dickin discovered Groupon, a new world of discounted activities.  Hoping to become the impromptu, adventurous soul he thought his ex wanted, he threw himself into the varied challenges that the site offered up.  Communing with exotic animals, alternative medical treatments and narcissistic vanity purchases extended his horizons in unexpected directions.

Did it change the man within?  Did he become a creature of impulse?  And he get the girl in the end?  Dickins provides the answers through a series of anecdotes backed up by powerpoint.

It's an intriguing conceit, and one Dickins handles well.  He's always engaging and there's a bit of audience interaction.  The quality of the punchlines varies, but there are more than enough winners in there to make this an enjoyable experience.

This is a Free Fringe show so you can roll up at short notice.  If you find yourself showless on the Cowgate around six one evening then My Groupon Adventure is definitely worth a look.

Max Dickins : My Groupon Adventure is at T-Bar until 27 August.

Aidan Goatley : 10 Films With My Dad, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh Fringe

A Fringe classic.  After five years playing to Edinburgh audiences, and having been toured to various countries around the world, today was the two hundred and second, and (probably, you never know....) last performance of 10 Films With My Dad.  It was good to see it retire with glory, with a large and enthusiastic audience there to mark it's passing.

Goatley and his dad never talked much.  They just went to films together, and that formed the basis for their relationship.  Featuring (you guessed it) ten films they had shared, Aidan charts the highs and lows of their times together, and the uncanny powers of red wellies.  It's about communication, missed opportunities, but also the need to express feelings and how difficult that can prove from a man who's been taught to repress his.

Dad set up John Wayne as the perfect role model for his son, so one can only hope he isn't too disappointed with the result.  Goatley is unlikely to make a convincingly tough cowboy, because he's warm, welcoming, theatrical, mildly camp, and very, very funny.  Plus he delivers a memorable Michael Caine impression.  Lacking the budget to show clips from the films themselves, he has recreated some of the scenes using a few mates and his dog, and the results are amateurishly hilarious.  

Beyond the comedy there are some moving moments about inter generational misunderstandings and finding ways to make contact with one another.  This is the third year running that I've seen the show and there's still a few seconds when I found a few tears in my eyes.

So that's it, a Fringe legend is no more.  If you'd like to see what all the fuss was about here's a recording of the show from last year.  That says 'final performance' as well, but I think he may actually mean it this time....

Oh, and you'll get to see who the real star of the show is.  Hats off to Kimble the dog.

Nick Doody : T'ai-Po, Canon's Gait, Edinburgh Fringe

From bizarre, self referential, imaginary conversations to leaving the stage as a triumphant winner, Doody is always sharp, imaginative, original and provides the odd stab of darkness and controversy.  There are some lovely flights of fancy, but mostly this is solid observational comedy with his own take on everyday banalities.

Nick brings an aura of confidence to the stage and the audience feels in safe hands throughout. He says he knows well his own place in the comedy hierarchy, and his metaphor to illustrate this is both hilarious and just a little disgusting.   The hour long performance flows along well and has been carefully structured, building up to the triumph at the end.  Although it's the image of penis kennels that will remain with me....

Nick Doody : T'ai-Po is on in the Canon's Gait at 21.35 until the 29th.

Simon Caine : Buddhism and Cats, Just the Tonic at The Caves, Edinburgh Fringe

This was a strange gig.  Caine is clearly talented, but, for whatever reasons, failed to really ignite his audience on this occasion.  I would often find myself almost the only person laughing at some lines, while other people found other bits funny, but the audience rarely came together to laugh as one.

Simon battled on through, getting us involved as best he could, and if the end result was patchy it certainly wasn't unenjoyable.  There are some very good jokes in his routine, and he's at his best when the subject matter becomes confessional, or on his relationship with cats, when he gets something of a Woody Allen vibe into his delivery.

I did wonder if some direct interaction with the crowd could have sparked some life into proceedings, but maybe it was always destined to be one of those nights when things don't go quite right.

Simon Caine : Buddhism and Cats is on inJust the Tonic at The Caves at 19.30 until the 29th.