Comedy

I have tried to see some great shows in this last week guided simply by word of mouth, mainly from performers. It is something performers should do more of – simply take a couple of minutes at the end of their own show to recommend other shows in the same genre. Some do. Most don’t. Especially in free venues, it would genuinely help to guide audiences – and reviewers. In free venues it might be an idea to get another comedian to do your bucket speech – minimising your embarrassment and letting them promo their own show properly to whoever is there. It would be something a bit more positive than simply complaining about no reviews and low audience figures because you have no money for PR. Just a thought.

No-one plays with an audience’s limits like Alfie Brown. He takes the “likeability issues” he has been told he has and he thrusts them at us like the crotch of a male stripper in the faces of a hen party.

Never has a show been more aptly named than Robin Ince’s Chaos of Delight. That is exactly what it is. He does up his cardigan, and that is how we know we have started. The thrill of both his shows this year is that they feel as if Ince has simply opened up a door into his brain and invited us into the playroom.

From shows you control with your phone to tap-dancing economics lessons, these comedians do things a little differently

Simon is trendy in teal this year, has upgraded the onstage furnishings of the show and is sipping Harvey’s Bristol Cream in tribute to his father, who provides several of the show’s first laughs.

There is a ridiculous amount of fizz in a Harriet Kemsley show. She bounces on, and seems all well-behaved girly body language and Home County vowels. But the joy of Harriet is that all is never as it seems.

Felicity Ward has been away from Edinburgh for a year. After making shows about anxiety and depression she became a mental health campaigner, making shows for Australian and British TV. But make no mistake about it. Felicity Ward is a damn funny woman. And in her new show she gives free rein to her glorious kinetic sillinesss.

If you have never experienced an hour with Twonkey, this is an excellent place to start. He has gone positively mainstream this year with a musical feast accompanied by a running dramatic buffet that has an actual narrative thread and everything.

Returning to the Fringe for the first time in 20 years, Jim Tavaré has a compelling tale to share, his near-miraculous escape from a serious road accident in Los Angeles.

“I have seen four shows today and that just blew everything else out of the water,” says the man behind me, as we leave.

Just like that, August is nearly over and so are the Edinburgh Festivals. As the Fringe draws to a close, we’ve put together the ultimate list of shows to see before the buzz and mayhem die down, all of which garnered a coveted 5-stars from The Scotsman’s critics.

This is a hugely inventive show from the start, as we go back to the 18th century to examine the origins of clapping, to the end, in a spiralling crescendo of excitement, as one of our number gets to play Finale-Quest to crown the hour.

This is an exquisite show from one of the more creative minds in comedy today. I do not know if I have the words to do it justice, but it brings to mind a line from a 1985 movie “she reached in and put a string of lights around my heart”, because that is pretty much what this show does.

Alistair Williams is something of a professional contrarian, the “token” white guy on the Quotas Full comedy podcast, routinely playing devil’s advocate. And a former advertising creative who gave up the house, car and empty relationship to earn £9,000 a year and live in a basement, kicking ineffectually against the comedy industry’s indifference.

After meatily dense, provocatively funny shows about white privilege and political discord post-Brexit, it seemed inevitable that Fin Taylor would grope towards the zeitgeist once more, his state-of-the-world explorations becoming something of an annual address.

As house prices skyrocket and retirement looks more distant than ever before, rising comedy star Ashley Storrie’s message at this year’s Fringe is that adulthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Women are all about emotion. Men only communicate in facts. Well, so says Jo Caulfield, so here are a few facts about the comedian courtesy of Killing Time.

A tremendous introductory show, Rosie Jones’ debut manages to be both elegantly crafted and mischievous to its bones.

Ask any of the comics who’ve made it; the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the place to be seen if you want to launch a successful career as a stand-up. Here’s our pick of the up and coming talent to watch our for in the future, and where to see them at the Fringe before they become household names.