Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews: Pierre Novellie | Njambi McGrath | Patrick Susmilch | Hung, Drawn and Portered | Get Blessed

Pierre Novellie’s brilliantly unconventional stand-up show leads this latest comedy round-up from our critics – and provides one of the great talking points of this year’s Fringe

Pierre Novellie: Why Are You Laughing?, Monkey Barrel Comedy (Venue 515) *****

Until 27 August

Pierre Novellie begins his stand-up show with a disclaimer. He is not going to follow the convention of introducing himself, exploring his origins, explaining his French sounding name. At this Fringe, dedicated to high-concept comedy, Novellie will eschew the conventions and dive straight into stand-up itself. Pure and unsullied. In the course of explaining why he refuses to introduce himself, he neatly and underhandedly does so, giving us the conventional potted history in an unconventional format.

To begin with he appears indeed to be sticking to pure, unsullied stand-up. He has a wonderful description of British drinking habits, which finds an absurd but highly credible explanation for the chaos which befalls provincial towns at nightfall. He appears to pour scorn on the workaday comedy gigs he does for the rest of the year. We are his real audience, we refined comedy fans who throng through the streets of Edinburgh. How marvellous and how strange that we are all here together. He has a formal demeanour but an expressive and overblown style of description, which pulls huge big laughs out of seemingly everyday subjects.

He talks about being baffled by his barber, about why he refuses to have a tattoo and how he chose the wrong musical instrument. These are all perfect little bits, brilliantly honed and all seemingly – seemingly – unrelated. In fact there is a unifying theme to all this – which I won’t reveal – but which is one of the great talking points of this year’s festival.

Novellie brilliantly ties all the threads together before neatly coming back to the question posed in the title of the show. Why is he on stage, what are we all doing here and why are we laughing? His answer will make you wonder, long after you have walked out of the building. And you’ll still be laughing about it as you walk away up the cobbled streets. Claire Smith

Njambi McGrath: Outkast, Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) ***

Pierre Novellie: Why Are You Laughing? Picture: MATT STRONGE

Until 28 August

Having spent half of her life in Kenya and half in England, author and comedian Njambi McGrath has had the experience of, in her own words, “living through the lifecycle of colonialism”. It’s the uneasy relationship between the coloniser and the colonised – and those who move between the two societies – that dominates Outkast.

Her perspectives on how Africans are oversold the Western lifestyle – where so-called #firstworldproblems can now compete with anywhere in the developing nations for bleakness – are nicely contrasted with the stereotypical views of her birth continent by the citizens of her adopted country. Amusement at chocolate and tea being claimed by Switzerland and Yorkshire respectively widens out to the colonial crimes carried out by the likes of Portugal and Spain being erased from history in favour of sun and sangria. Her private schooling in Kenya also provides fertile ground for righteous anger at teaching dedicated to detribalising pupils and brainwashing them to “aspire to everything white”.

You could happily listen to McGrath speak for hours, such is her talent for storytelling and her refreshing takes on everything from Brexit to being a middle child. The only issue is that the laughs don’t match up to the anecdotes, with only a few sections really taking flight comedically. The rest is more fascinating than funny. David Hepburn

Patrick Susmilch: Texts from my Dead Friends, Just The Tonic at the Mash House (Venue 288) ****

Until 27 August

The world of the touring stand-up comic can be a lonely one. But there’s a companionship on the road, where friendships are formed and jokes are shared. US stand up Patrick Susmilch has created a show about a period of his life when ten of his fellow travellers died. Some of them were comics, some were not. Some were felled by illness, some by accidents, some by drugs.

Susmilch has made a memorial to his dead friends and a reconstruction of that bleak period of his life, using the final few texts that were exchanged between them. This ephemera, shared on a screen behind him on stage, captures precious, fleeting moments of love and support which were shared days before each person’s final chapter.

Susmilch’s comic asides do not always hit home, particularly as he hasn’t quite adapted his references to a UK audience. And his multimedia presentation of texts is, irritatingly, too small to read.

But there is something beautifully moving about this stand-up comic’s Book of the Dead. Susmilch captures something of each person’s story in little narrative snippets, with pictures of funeral homes, recordings of services and excerpts from memorials in newspapers.

Life is precious and life is short but Susmilch doesn’t labour the point. He allows each person to shine in their own way, imbuing each individual story with care and respect. As the show comes to an end he invites us to remember friends we have lost. It’s a lovely moment of shared humanity, quite straightforward and matter of fact, an acknowledgement of something that unites us all. It’s an unusual show, and unexpected, but you may find it is worth an hour of your time. Claire Smith

Hung, Drawn and Portered, Assembly George Square Studios (Venue 17) ***

Until 28 August

Portobello native Gail Porter is clearly delighted to be here, and she’s even more delighted that we’re here. “I mean, Wednesdays are weird – at least on Monday and Tuesday you get two-for-one tickets!” she beams, before immediately asking who in the audience has been sectioned before.

In addition to being sectioned herself for 28 days in 2011 due to suicidal ideation, Porter has also had to deal with – among other things – alopecia and living in the Celebrity Big Brother House for three weeks, despite her best efforts to be voted off. It would be challenging for most people to remain upbeat under these conditions; and yet, here Porter is, cheerily sharing her most vulnerable moments with impressive candour.

Her set can give you whiplash, both in terms of tone and content (we bounce between Saturday jobs and parental death with little warning) and some anecdotes fall flatter than others. However, in the end, Porter’s commitment to laying her soul bare – tears, dancing and all – should be admired, even if the road to get there can be a little disjointed at times. Ariane Branigan

Get Blessed, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24) **

Until 27 August

Putting the ‘fun’ back into ‘funeral’ is the aim of Irish writer-performer Niamh Denyer in this piece of character comedy that’s hugely reliant on needless audience participation at the expense of actual material.

Her character of professional funeral celebrant Áine Reilly is certainly memorable, teaching her acolytes the tricks of her trade, from suitable clothing and upselling, to dealing with rivals and the perfect eulogy.

Denyer is a consummate performer and she’s pulled out all the stops here, from biscuits at the beginning to communion wafers at the end. But there’s just too much inconsequential padding – an extended colouring-in contest the worst of several culprits. David Hepburn