Edinburgh Festivals 2019: 10 great shows you can still see today

Blizzard | Rowan Rheingans. Pictures: Francis Fontaine | Ron Milsom

Fend off the Monday blues by taking in one (or two, or three) more great show before the festivals finish.

You know you should leave now if you want to make that train. You know you should start writing that essay tonight, not next week. You know should get your packing done the night before you go away, not the morning of. You know all these things to be true. And yet...

Everything tastes better at the last chance saloon. There is something intoxicating about leaving leaving it all to the last minute, challenging yourself to get it all done with no time to spare. By pushing things back to the last possible opportunity, you can chase that "now or never" high in your everyday life.

The third minute is a great time to score, but the ninety-third minute is so much more exciting.

Here we are, in the dying seconds of 2019's Edinburgh festivals, with one final chance to see something great. Last minute scrambles tend to get a little messy, so here's a quick rundown of ten great shows that are still playing today, with tickets still available.

The Man, Underbelly, Bristo Square - Jersey, 1.05pm

"There is not a speck of fat on any part of the hour – not on the lip-synch extravaganzas, the hilarious game of Dickhead Bingo, the introduction to the six ‘friends’ every man will need, the radio phone-in, or even the spoken word. The show is sculpted like the abs on a comedy Zac Efron.

And that allows for the occasional intense moment – like the section about drunk hugging – that foreshadows the unexpected ending. I am not going to tell you what that is, just that it is brave and passionate and the antithesis of every other Big Finish you will see this month. Be a Man. Go."

Read our full review here

A Very British Lesbian, Gilded Balloon Teviot , 1.45pm

"It is a wonderful thing to sit in the dark and let really good writing delight you. This is not just good, it is writing of such skill and precision that it could have been done with a diamond cutter. There is not one single wasted word, not one phrase that does not play perfectly – and sometimes painfully – its part in this extraordinary story of love and life, fear and finding yourself.

There is so much laughter in Goodwin’s hour that it is a tribute to her as both writer and performer that it does not for one second diminish the hurt that is

felt, it simply refuses to let things get either angry or maudlin.

Which makes this a memorably powerful hour. And very British."

Read our full review here