Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews: Njambi McGrath: Revolution | Carl Donnelly: Another Round | Andrew O'Neill: Escape | Rob Duncan: Printer of the Year 2024 | Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Howling at the Moon | WOW! That's What I Call Puns!

Njambi McGrath: Revolution

Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24) until 25 August

★★★★☆

I have never seen Njambi McGrath like this. She is passionate, driven and ferociously political. Her show Revolution is not particularly funny but it is spellbinding, shocking and a brutally educational gallop through Kenya's history and her present situation. While I cannot claim to have skin in the game (mine being the wrong colour), I was in Kenya through all of the events that form the heart of this powerful show, and I am thrilled and admiring in equal measure that Njambi (Kenyan herself, in case you don't know) has chosen this subject for her Edinburgh show.

She looks at revolution in general, and Kenya's in particular. The wheels within wheels of American political nepotism, the psychopathy that is released by becoming a billionaire, the ease with which a government can be bought and the breathtaking courage and initiative of the country's Gen Z in starting the movement that culminated in the protests of June 25th 2024 make for an absolutely gripping show and Njambi does not hold back in her delivery. If you do not find yourself in the grip of a borderline incoherent rage as you hear of the doings of US ambassador Meg Whitman, Unilever and Monsanto in Kenya then I despair of you. If it wasn't for the tear gas, the rooftop snipers, the machine guns and the agent orange, I expect we might all join the revolution ourselves.

The writing has enough light and shade to make sure that we never feel harangued – this is exactly the kind of properly political hour we should be seeing more of, given the (frequently untold, on account of being in Africa) horrors of the world. I cannot recommend this show more strongly. Yes I am biased, because it is about Kenya, but just go. This show needs to be heard.

KATE COPSTICK

COMEDY

Carl Donnelly: Another Round

Hive 1 @ Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive) (Venue 313) until 24 August

★★★★☆

It’s common for comics to say they changed their minds about the stories they wanted to tell between writing the entry in the Fringe programme and the start of August. But I’m not sure I believe Carl Donnelly when he says he planned to make a story about the terrible year he had – then thought better of it.

In fact Donnelly does tell the story of his terrible year – but he wraps it up with such warmth, hilarity and charm that you hardly notice. He’s very funny and wry about the fashion for trauma comedy but Carl just shrugs off the whole phenomena: it’s really not his style.

He did have a life-threatening illness – and what was worse his daughter also became ill. But Donnelly the comic chooses to focus on the minute and irrelevant details, such as the ridiculous conversations he had with anaesthetists and the ludicrous story his daughter decided to tell when she got back to kindergarten.

There are no emotional moments, no tears will be shed. Everything’s fine, he assures us, everyone is OK now. Everyone is healthy again. There’s a life lesson in there. Be More Carl.

Donnolly is a man at ease. He’s in his early 40s now, happily married for the second time, enjoying life, looking after himself. He’s relaxed, confident, knows what he’s doing. The wild times are over and that’s OK – but he does check in with the younger audience members who are still tripping the light fantastic.

Comics always have great stories about life on the road and he throws in a couple of great yarns about a night out in India and a stag do in Belfast. The show has the feeling of one that will grow and take shape as the Fringe goes on. So it’s not quite fully formed but no less enjoyable for that.

CLAIRE SMITH

COMEDY

Andrew O'Neill : Escape

CabVol 2 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) (Venue 338) until 24 August

★★★☆☆

We spend quite a few moments “hailing the rhombus” and a few more doing our best to embrace Andrew's new catchphrase (someone's got to) but once the warm-up gives way to something substantive, there is a lot to like here. O'Neill is, of course, as reliably passionate as ever, and whether on the subject of George Ezra (not a fan) or building the belief that capitalism can be changed, this hour is as much of a potent cocktail of ideas as we have come to expect from them. They – despite being a self-confessed cultural elitist - are still out to change the world for the better by direct action, but are hindered by people who are what O'Neill calls “fact-resistant”, and by the speed at which fake news out paces real news.

We get conspiracy theories (real ones!) and aggressive mint marketing, little bits of Quo and some manifesting. The theme of “escape” is the springboard for the story of their leaving home in Wallington and encourages us to extricate ourselves (a slightly bigger ask) from the clutches of capitalism. O'Neill makes a very persuasive case for this. Fans of Dubai, Stacey Solomon, Kent and Essex might want to steel themselves for some criticism

KATE COPSTICK

COMEDY

Rob Duncan Printer of the Year 2024

Carbon (Venue 180) until 24 August

★★★☆☆

The words “utter shambles” spring to mind here and that is being almost too kind. It should be mentioned, in his defence, that Rob wears a very smart dinner suit, albeit combing his hair is obviously too much to ask. He has his laptop, packed to its last byte with cues for sounds and sights. None of which can be seen or heard by anyone other than the front two rows because he cannot connect the laptop to the enormous screen on the wall.

He has at least six printers (well, he was Printer of the Year 2024), none of which really works properly because there is nowhere to plug them in. The manager of this genuinely excellent venue makes a guest appearance, in an attempt to sort out Rob's technical debacle and there is enthusiastic audience participation, to the extent that we all look around for somewhere to plug in Rob's printers. It is a tribute to Duncan's sweet comedy genius that we are all laughing uncontrollably. Never has an hour of more or less abject failure been so funny. It is the kind of show one comes to Edinburgh hoping to see.

KATE COPSTICK

Make sure you keep up to date with Arts and Culture news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here.

COMEDY

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Howling at the Moon 4stars

Monkey Barrel 3 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Venue 515) until 24 August

★★★★☆

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd delivers a masterful hour of comedy which has the audience roaring with laughter from start to finish. He has his own completely distinctive way of mining laughs from everyday observations with absolutely impeccable timing and a completely winning turn of phrase.

The Glasgwegian with the Mr Whippy quiff is absolutely in command of his material. If he’s interrupted by the lively crowd he has a charming and very funny way of brushing off heckles by refusing to engage with them. He doesn’t want to win, he explains, he wants to connect.

He has a happy little flounce when his stories land – it’s almost like a victory dance. He skips, he twirls. He twinkles with mischief and joy. He’s adorable.

His subject matter is extraordinarily mundane. Watching nature documentaries, playing video games, being rudely interrupted by a stranger when he’s eating a curry. He floors you with his vocal dexterity – becoming David Attenborough, an aristocratic Nazi and most memorably the disembodied voice of the slimming drug Mounjaro. And he manages to use the raging storm outside as a metaphor for the contrasting styles of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In the course of it all we learn quite a lot about his emotional life – how he lost his last Australian girlfriend and found a new one, how he feels about kissing and why he may or may not be bisexual. There’s an appealing tenderness about him. He’s not afraid to show us what is in his heart.

Every single gag leads to a great big hearty laugh. And even his sob stories are hilarious. He’s been depressed, he probably has ADHD – but he turns the obligatory mental health segment into a glorious story about the joys of washing up. What an absolute treasure. Don’t miss him. He’s a rare treat.

CLAIRE SMITH

COMEDY

WOW! That's What I Call Puns!

The Snug at Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 (Venue 151) until 14 August

★★☆☆☆

There is a ferocious amount of work in this show. And an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music over five decades. It is just not very funny. Too many of the puns are only puns if the punchline is mispronounced. Which is, I think, not “what I call puns”. Paul McCartney, Glen Campbell and ZZ Top provide laughs but it starts to feel simply relentless, although that might be Iain McDonald's delivery. Scots in the audience get more laughs, including one absolute stoatir of a joke about a man who ran a shop selling filled rolls.

KATE COPSTICK

READ MORE: Comedy review: Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: The Boyd With the Thorn in his Side