Mark Thomas, Check Up : Our NHS at 70, Traverse, Edinburgh Fringe

Nye Bevan wanted the NHS to be there for us all "in place of fear".  Thomas has set out to look at the state of Bevan's creation 70 years on from it's genesis.  He's clearly spent a lot of time researching for this show, shadowing staff in hospitals, interviewing health experts and ex health ministers, accumulating the evidence that the fear may now be returning.

PFI debts, competitive tendering and the resulting privatisation of services, the massive loss of experienced staff in the face of the threat to leave the EU, the underfunding and cutting of other public health services, and a consistent pattern of government financial cuts has reduced the NHS to a state which is not allowing it to do the job it was designed for.  (Thomas does make the point that things are a bit better here in Scotland, but all his research was conducted on London services.)

This could easily be dry stuff, but Thomas is very much the entertainer and there are plenty of laughs throughout.  The show moves at a rapid pace, with Mark's traditional motormouth monologues mixed up with impressions of people he's interviewed (notably a GP who spent a long time telling him all the things he might die of....) and AV clips of others he's talked to.  Most memorably Frank Dobson, Blair's first Health Secretary, admitting that PFI was his greatest mistake.

Thomas is rightly fierce in his defence of the concept of universal health care system and in his criticism of those who have sought to weaken it, looking to monetise the care and treatments that should be ours by right.  This is an important show, a must-see show, brilliant in many respects, but also saddening to see what is being done to such an important institution.  Highly recommended.

Mark Thomas - Check Up : The NHS at 70 is in the Traverse at 22.00 until 26 August.

Catherine Bohart : Immaculate, Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe

She's Irish, her dad's a Catholic deacon, she's bisexuual and has OCD.  Bohart tells us these things at the start for they are the essential elements of her show, a story of a changing Ireland where family life is evolving into the 21st century, where her atheism and sexuality don't lead to the social ostracism they would once have done, and attitudes to mental health issues are improving.

It's an optimistic hour, but with enough uncomfortable moments to add a bit of bite.
 Coming out as bi to her parents produces unexpected reactions.  Being hospitalised for a few months to be treated for her illness has her mother trying to be inventive rather than tell the neighbours the 'awful' truth.  Feeling hard done by that her country is rapidly liberalising, mostly after she had moved over the water.

There's a bit of audience interaction, but she isn't one to pick on people and put them on the spot.  It's a well structured set with a satisfying revelation at the end.  Above all it's consistently funny, and she ad libs effectively when external noises intervene.  Highly recommended.

With a small rider.  This is one of those Fringe venues that get VERY hot and humid, to the point where one audience member fainted.  Go and see Bohart, but maybe take along some water and a couple of flyers to fan yourself if you're prone to that kind of thing.

Catherine Bohart : Immaculate is on in The Pleasance at 16.15 until 26 August.

Barry Crimmins : A Celebration, New Town Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe

Barry Crimmins was a New York satirical comedian and political activist who was revered by many in his profession.  he died of cancer earlier this year and this one-off charity gig was held to raise funds for his widow to help pay for her own cancer treatment.

Playing to sold out house in the Grand Hall, Robin Ince MCed and talked about his own memories of the man, and introduced a succession of top comedians doing ten minute slots.  Mark Thomas, Angela Barnes, Chris Stokes, Sofie Hagen, Mark Watson, Scotland's Janey Godley, Alistair Barrie and, rounding it all off, Reginald D Hunter.

And if that wasn't quite enough there were a couple of even more special guests.  After Hagen Ince brought on Helen Crimmins, Barry's widow, the undoubted highlight of the show.  She gave a powerfully emotional speech about her husband, his work, his optimism and his message that we should never give up fighting the bad guys, before presenting very special gifts to Ince and Thomas.  She was followed by multi talented musician and entertainer Amanda Palmer who delivered a hilarious anthem to the ukulele whilst playing the ukulele.  Watson, well fuelled by rose, got a good five minutes of comedy out of the stress of having to follow 2 of the most powerful acts of the night!

An excellent show, an excellent cause, and a reminder that compassion, empathy and love remain powerful weapons in our society.

Front Row, BBC Tent, Edinburgh Fringe

A live broadcast of the Radio 4 arts programme, hosted by Kirsty Lang.

Lang came out shortly before the programme began to explain the timetable, and the audience's role in it.  Then she brought out Scots musician and singer Mairi Campbell who taught and rehearsed us in singing chorus of the original tune to Auld Lang Syne.  Then it was time to bring out the guests on to the line of sofas.

The big name was Brian May, the polymath best known for being Queen's guitarist, and with him Professor Roger Taylor.  There were three doctors - Adam Kay, Kwame Asante and Kevin Jones - who all have Fringe stand up shows based around their experiences in the profession. Plus comedian Rachel Parris, who's become more of a household name in recent times as a member of TV's Mash report team, and the aforementioned Campbell.

With that big a line up and less than 30 minutes broadcasting time nobody was ever going to get much time to get their points across, but Lang has superb timing and gave each a fair crack.  A comic song from Kay at the keyboard got things started. The doctors were there to plug their shows of course, and all got a chance to tell a funny story.  Parris is in a couple of shows, but mostly talked about her Mash report experiences.  And May and Taylor have produced a new book on a Victorian pioneer of 3D photography, a subject there was more to than most of us might have suspected.  We ended with Campbell leading the audience in song.

That bald description doesn't sound very exciting, but the reality was more entertaining, watching the interactions between the guests and Lang's confident control of proceedings.  Watching live radio is so often a much better experience than it sounds.

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.

In Conversation With... Mark Thomas, New Town Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe

Local comedian Susan Morrison introduced Thomas and posed the questions.  Or tried to... she did well to maintain some kind of structure to the hour because once Mark is in full flow he's a hard man to interrupt!

Stories from his London childhood and the earliest influences on his political views, the magician pastor who accidentally turned him to atheism at an early age, his time at drama school (when his working class dad's biggest concern was if he had to wear tights!) and gradual move from theatre to the comedy and activism he's become famed for.  Dave Allen was his first comedy hero, the subversive antithesis to the Bernard Manning's of the world.  While the latter punched down at the weak, at minorities and the already voiceless, Allen hit up at the establishment, at authority.  When Alexei Sayle appeared on the scene and turned that attitude up a few notches Thomas knew this was what he had to do.

There were plenty of tales of the power of the political campaigns he's been involved in, and of the dirty tricks employed by government against him and his colleagues.  The story of the masses of junk mail sent to Michael Heseltine's home when he was trying to privatise the Post Office is legendary, but always worth hearing again.

In a short audience Q&A session at the end he was asked if he was optimistic or pessimistic about the current state of UK politics.  He thought for a long time before replying - with no real certainty, such are the risks we now face from the rise of the far right, a gutter press that distorts and smears, and the impunity with which lies can be spread about the likes of Corbyn.

But he was positive that there are still some great investigative journalists, like Carole Cadwalladr who's done such a great job of exposing the dirty tricks and dirty money of the Leave and Trump campaigns.

An hour passed all too quickly.  Funny, passionate, committed and sharp witted, Thomas is always inspiring and able to look at the wider world with a satirical eye.  Long may he continue to do so.

The In Conversation With series is in the New Town Theatre at 12.00 until 26 August.

Gareth Waugh : Oh Boy...!, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh Fringe

Waugh's recent house move promoted a delve into some old notebooks and, more than a decade on, a 'bucket list' compiled by his 17 year old self.  And it's that list that forms the basis for the show, and a story of teenage desires, missed opportunities and wishes fulfilled.

With the aid of a projector he takes us through a few of the items on his list.  Some are conventionally wishlisty - the swim with dolphins kind of thing - and others reflect his obsessions at that age - like singing a rap song live.  It's cringeworthy stuff and Waugh makes the most of the opportunities for self deprecation and stories of how things went right, or wrong, in the years since.  There's also memories of earlier years, including what sounds a lot like child abuse from his grandmother, and the games he played as a kid that would baffle people from other countries, and subsequent times travelling with an Irish psychopath and a bit of chicken murder.  A rap song he and a mate wrote when they were 14 gets a lot discussion, mainly about just how awful the lyrics were.

The good news is that Waugh narrates all these triumphs and disasters with a consistently high laugh factor.  It's a nicely constructed set, builds well to the finale, and never flags.  Few actual jokes, but situations and characters that have been turned into very funny stories, and his analysis of those rap lyrics is hilarious.

In a Fringe largely dominated by acts from other countries it's good to see a strong local talent showing how good observational comedy is done.  Recommended.

Gareth Waugh is in Gilded Balloon Teviot at 15.00 until 26 August.