Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews: Demi Adejuyigbe | Michael Brunström | Adam Hills | Edward Aczel | Henry Ginsberg

Despite its flaws, Demi Adejuyigbe’s Fringe debut is a hugely enjoyable hour

Comedian Demi Adejuyigbe

COMEDY

Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip ****

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 25 August

Demi Adejuyigbe's Fringe debut runs out of steam a bit, can't sustain interest in its stated but throwaway conceit and feels, for all its disparate multimedia elements and suggestion of audience interaction, a little too calculated and slick. Too many of the American's obscure cultural references are rendered doubly so by the tightly scripted production being unwilling to adapt them for UK audiences. And yet, it's a hugely enjoyable hour that flings enough at the wall for enough to successfully stick.

Driven by a desire to impress his “crush” by performing a show containing the titular backflip, the brittle confidence of his persona is thinly disguised by his showy, set-piece musical and video introductions, the early standout being an adaptation of Billy Joel's famous list song We Didn't Start The Fire. Updating the lyrics with more trivial and ephemeral recent phenomena than the original, he introduces a personal aspect of hilarious, escalating social awkwardness that brilliantly exploits the song's stilted rhythm and serves to presage the regular rug pulls he relies on. Stamping his authority and parallel universe logic on the show with insecure blowhardiness, he offers his (alternative) appreciation of jazz and elevates a news story about a monkey lost in a Canadian branch of IKEA into a platonic love song for the ages. At a certain point, he inadvertently conjures his supposedly technically advanced nemesis for a bit of deliberately shonky, partly improvised repartee which takes an enjoyable lurch into a lack of sexual inhibition and thereafter serves as a dismissive commentary on the show's progress.

The reasons behind Barack Obama's involvement are as capricious as that of his mother's or Marge Simpson's, beyond Adejuyigbe knowing that he can play them for laughs. All the while, the promise of the backflip adds just a dash of jeopardy and narrative drive that the disconnected, daft routines might otherwise lack.

Jay Richardson

COMEDYMichael Brunström: Copernicus Now! ****

Hoots @ Potterow (Venue 243) until 11 August

I forgot to ask Michael Brunström if his show title is a deliberate Seinfeld reference. (SERENITY NOW!) – but I reckon it’s reasonably likely. Brunström, a former Malcolm Hardee Award winner for Comic Originality, always makes shows that interrogate the nature of comedy.

In this show, his first at the Fringe in five years, he divides comedy into two categories – and attempts to break through and create a third – and more unifying kind. Ostensibly about the 14th century Polish astronomer Copernicus, this is also a show that celebrates playfulness, curiosity and a willingness to change the world for the better.

Brunstrom’s performance includes elements of slapstick, pantomime and dance – as well as revealing his surprisingly mellifluous singing voice. The fact that it takes place in a small yurt with elbow room only, does nothing to quell his theatrical ambition. His props, such as they are, appear to have been transported to the venue in a giant Lidl bag which perches at the side of the stage. He encourages us to cheer at equations, to join in with a line dancing routine and to imagine ourselves hurtling through the universe, at the heart of a epoch changing paradigm shift. Is it to late for us to rescue the earth? Can we change comedy? Can we save the planet?

The heart lifting finale encourages us to believe it is not too late. There is still hope. Brunström is a delightful presence, odd, eager and erudite – with a solicitous care for his audience. A true comedy original it is a joy to spend time in his company. He’s only here for a short run but do take the time to see him if you can. If you’re looking for the real Fringe, it’s here.

Claire Smith

COMEDY

Adam Hills: Shoes Half Full ***

Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) until 11 August

It’s a bit like watching Jesus, seeing Adam Hills having fun with the disabled front row of his show at the Assembly Rooms. Hills is a master at this, and it is a pure delight to watch him transform disability into a superpower, making the front row the centre of attention and reducing them and the rest of the audience to screams of laughter.

The Aussie presenter of The Last Leg is an accomplished stand up who loves nothing better than to shift the power dynamic of a room. His easy quick witted sparring with the crowd is second to none. He’s been away from stand up for a few years, playing Rugby League with the Warrington Wolves and being a slightly lackadaisical Dad. Hills has some great stories about playing disabled rugby and delivers some solid self deprecating tales about the difficulties of parenting when you’re too busy laughing at the outrageous remarks that fall from the lips of children.

There’s not much of a theme or structure here beyond a suggestion that we should all be nicer to each other, which is hard to argue with. But sell out crowds adore Hills and they have good reason to do so.

Claire Smith

COMEDY

Edward Aczel: Running on Empty ***

Hoots @ Potterrow (Venue 243) until 11 August

Ed has only moderate hopes for the first section of his show and they are fulfilled. But we are soon onto a different level with showbiz tales of living opposite Roy Castle and tenuous connections with Val Doonican. Val's fans should be warned that they might get some news regarding Ireland's Perry Como. There is, I note, an uncharacteristic amount of actual structure here. Ed offers us a section of Observational Comedy, with emphasis, of course, on it being “just an observation”. We get a list of Things that Are Pointless and then, as Ed fails to persuade anyone to reveal a deep dark secret we can laugh at, we hit the Middle Section. This low energy lull is Ed's spiritual home, one feels, but, never one to be indulgent, he picks up the show again with the Joke Section. OK, there are only four, but it’s the thought that counts. This is a revelatory experience in many ways. I am, it turns out, Hungarian Goulash, we explore our favourite Apocalypse and ponder the joy of going places only to find out there is nothing there. And if ever there were a metaphor for Ed's comedy...

Kate Copstick

COMEDY

Henry Ginsberg's Hyper Masculine Cookery Show **

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe (Venue 85) until 25 August

If you have ever wondered what it is like to be a chef in a Wetherspoons, then this is the show for you. From the abomination that is the well done steak, through top things diners leave behind, to Henry's problems with lasagne, spiders and the horror of the shop bought falafel, we get a buffet of food themed fun. The show is gently interactive. We create the 'perfect' burger and nominate our favourite spices and herbs. The highpoint of the show for me is Henry's bumble bee joke. Not exactly comedy haute cuisine, but this fills a space nicely.

Kate Copstick