Best free shows at the Fringe

Published on 23/08/2012 13:33

With less than a week of the Fringe to go, avid culture vultures may be feeling the pinch. Luckily there are hundreds of free-entry shows vying for your attention.

Here we have collected some of the highest-rated free shows across a range of genres to help your plan your time in Edinbugh on the cheap.

Comedy: Lewis Schaffer: No You Shut Up!

The Hive (Venue 313)

Until 27 August. 4.45pm

* * * *

He gleefully violates every comedy rule in the book, propositions the married woman behind me, flits like a slightly sinister comedy butterfly over a little light bestiality and paedophilia and comes to rest dripping venom on his ex-wife in particular and women in general. An hour with Lewis Schaffer is an hilarious, cathartic, exhilaratingly appalling experience. He wants you to hate him. I, for one, just can’t. (Kate Copstick, The Scotsman) Read more...

Cabaret: Dusty Limits: Post-Mortem

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House

Until 19 August. 8.15pm

* * * *

Not only is Dusty a feast for the eyes, capering in his cutaway tails, but, as ever, he is a delight for the ears. His vocal range is admirable, and his musical choices – including the “contractually obligated by the laws of cabaret” Weimar-era song – are inspired, including Sondheim, Yazoo, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie. (Lee Randall, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: Eric Hutton: Every Other Show at the Fringe Sucks

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (Venue 170)

Until 26 August. 11pm

* * * *

From the moment he walks along “sucking up some sky”, there are parts of Eric Hutton’s show that are just magic. Strange Aussie magic. But magic nevertheless. (Kate Copstick, The Scotsman) Read more...

Cabaret: Twonkey’s Kingdom

The Hive (Venue 313)

Until 26 August. 3pm

* * *

The musical storytelling of Edinburgh-based maverick Paul Vickers is frankly an acquired taste, but amid the ramshackle – possibly deliberately so – delivery and an approach to narrative which can only be described as stream-of-consciousness, there’s furious invention at work. (David Pollock, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: 3 Days Off Jesus

Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters (Venue 272)

Until 26 August

* * *

Adorable without veering off into nauseating whimsicality, David Burke is someone I urge you to catch while he’s still playing rooms small enough to ensure everyone’s a part of his gang. (Lee Randall, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: Mark Cooper-Jones: Geography Teacher

Cabaret Voltaire (Venue 338)

Until 24 August. 3.50pm

* * *

This is a lovely, jolly show. Cooper-Jones is a real geography teacher – elbow patches and all – so when you go and see him remember to be on your best behaviour. (Kate Copstick, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: Ladies and Gentlemen

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (Venue 170)

Until 26 August. 3.30pm

* * *

This is a properly accomplished show in a comfy little venue and a great way to spend part of an afternoon. (Kate Copstick, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: Nik Coppin’s Caricatures

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe (Venue 85)

Until 27 August. 5.30pm

* * *

The man who gave Edinburgh first Shaggers and then the delightful Huggers attaches yet another string to his comedic bow: we now discover he is a talented caricaturist. (Kate Copstick, The Scotsman) Read more...

Comedy: An Audience with Tomas Ford

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde

Until 26 August. 11.50pm

* * *

Tomas Ford is not afraid to be thoroughly ridiculous, even shameless in performance and there emerges a fond sense of ownership among onlookers as he croons theatrically over a dystopian electronic soundtrack teased from his flight case of hi-tech hardware. (Fiona Shepherd, The Scotsman) Read more...

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