Best Festival storyteller

Published on Tuesday 5 August 2008 20:27

Sitting comfortably?

TERRY SAUNDERS, Terry Saunders – Figure 8, 18:05 daily through 24 Aug (not 11), Underbelly’s Baby Belly, 75 Belford Rd, 0844 545 8252, 7.50-10.50, wwwterrysaunders.co.uk The first choice is becoming increasingly well known for his whimsicality, his ability to take you with him on every step of his journey and a precocious world-weariness incongruously coupled with a childlike sort of confusion at the world and himself.

SARAH BENNETTO, Storytellers’ Club, 23:45, 9, 16, 23 Aug, C Central, Carlton Hotel, 0845 260 1234, 5.50-8.50, http://profile.myspace.com/storytellersclub When I first started Anthology in Edinburgh in 2005, Sarah was the person I’d turn to to host the show when I couldn’t do it myself. She’s a gracious host, but her ability to convey a sense of her place in life, humbly, yet triumphantly, is what makes her the best part of a show.

THE LIAR SHOW, The Liar Show, daily through 24 Aug (not 13), Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, 8-10, http://theliarshow.com I was going to dedicate this entry to Andy Christie, the brilliant storyteller who emerged from the cocoon of New York’s “The Moth”. But all of the “permanent” cast members are astonishing. Andy, Ophira Eisenberg and Peter Lubell prove Americans are not devoid of irony in a format that mixes true stories with out-and-out lies.

LIAM MULLONE, Liam Mullone – In a Dead Man’s Hat, daily through 25 Aug (not 11, 12), Gilded Balloon Teviot, 0131-668 1633, 7-9.50, www.mullone.co.uk Liam has been quickly gaining the industry’s attention with, among other things, his ability to turn darkness into light, somehow making his uncompromising take on life’s harsh realities feel like a glancing blow from an extra-soft feather.

MY GUESTS, Anthology, daily through 25 Aug, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 38 West Nicolson Street, 07840 588 273, Free Admission, anthologystorytelling.blogspot.com When Anthology began to get attention, I started to get messages from experienced comics who wanted to try their hand. The roster of guests on upcoming shows (Jo Caulfield, Richard Herring, Josie Long, Paul Sinha, Scott Capurro) demonstrates the allure of this form.

&#149 Andrew J Lederer produces and hosts Anthology, which features stories from comedians’ lives, rather than traditional stand-up, at the Fringe.