Venue 33, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance One,
3rd-24th Aug (not 15, 22), 1.30pm-3.00pm
"A vibrant, stimulating showcase of talent."
TUESDAY 8th AUGUST 2023
Pleasance One, Venue 33
12.40pm-2.10pm
Tickets: £15.00
Amazing Stories of Blues and Soul: The Road Trip
Music (soul, spoken word)
Come on a musical journey around America to discover the roots of soul. This brand-new show features a riotous eight-piece band, complete with horn section, as they go on a laughter-laced, high-octane road trip that recreates the original spirit of the foot-stomping blues and soul classics that sound-tracked a generation. The songs of John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and many more, brought together through performances crackling with energy. 'Great fun to watch, providing humour, interesting anecdotes along with a great selection of music' (EdFringeReview.com).
Juliette Burton: No Brainer
Comedy (solo show, stand-up)
Everyone's got a brain, although some work differently to others. In fixing her broken brain, Juliette learned a lot. Tired of mental health problems? Now is the time for solutions. Join award-winning comedian Juliette as she shares a manual for the mind. Not another awareness-raising show, but a change-making show. Is getting better a no-brainer? As seen on BBC One, ITV, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live. Edinburgh Fringe total sell-out, 2015 to 2018. 'Joyous' (Times). 'Fringe favourite' (Guardian). 'Hilarious' ***** (EdFestMag.com). ***** (Mirror). ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). ***** (VoiceMag.uk). **** (Sunday Express). **** (One4Review.co.uk).
Almost Adult
Theatre (solo show, comedy)
Hope's leaving her hometown up north for the bright lights of London. It's going to be mind-blowing. Attractive Hinge dates. Mature new friends. A job at a dinosaur-themed bar. Hell. Yes. Okay, her manager's a creep. And her housemate seems to hate her... But we don't need to talk about that. With a hilariously naïve protagonist, 'blisteringly funny' (Indiependent.co.uk) Almost Adult combines quick-witted character comedy with touching vulnerability. That's right, Charlotte Anne-Tilley (Winner of Everything Theatre's Award for Ingenuity and 4theatre's Best Debut Performance) is returning to Gilded Balloon for 2023. ***** (@TheatreAndOtherThingsLDN, Instagram).
YUCK Circus
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (comedy, lgbtq+)
YUCK are back with their sell-out show. High-flying acrobatics, absurd confessions and groovy dancing – all smashed together with their trademark ripper comedy. Winners of top-tier Fringe World Martin Sims Award, Best Circus at both Melbourne and Sydney Fringe, and Best Emerging Artist at Adelaide Fringe, get ready to witness a powerhouse of female circus performers kick art in the face. 'Flight of the Conchords meets Cirque du Soleil' ***** (Stage). 'One of the best and most inventive things I have seen for a long time' ***** (GetTheChance.Wales).
Beautiful Evil Things
Theatre (devised, physical theatre)
Multi award-winning Ad Infinitum (Odyssey, Translunar Paradise, Ballad of the Burning Star) returns with a breathtaking retelling of the Trojan War. Enter Medusa. Monstrous gorgon? Snakes for hair? A turn-to-stone glare? Perhaps. She was there – head strapped to the shield of a goddess. Her forever-open eyes saw it all, but Medusa’s petrifying gaze focused on three extraordinary women, the key to her ultimate hope. Beautiful Evil Things is a new, high-energy, one-woman tour de force combining physical storytelling with cut-throat wit. One of The Guardian’s Best Theatre of 2022. **** (Guardian). **** (Stage). **** (Morning Star).
Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time
Comedy (stand-up)
Attributed to Mark Twain, humour is defined as tragedy plus time. Join Ed as he tests that formula by mining the most tragic event in his life for laughs. Praise for Ed's previous Edinburgh sold out run: ***** 'High quality stand-up from a master of observational comedy' (BroadwayBaby.com). ***** 'Definitely stand-up at its best' (VoiceMag.uk). ***** 'A masterclass from one of the finest comedians' (Magazine.DailyBusinessGroup.co.uk). ****½ 'wicked sense of humour, a charismatic stage presence engulfs the massive room packed to the rafters' (One4review.co.uk).
Bowjangles: Dracula in Space
Theatre (musical comedy, musical theatre)
Forget everything you think you know about string quartets, Bowjangles are an irreverent, anarchic group of genre-spanners, bringing music, theatre and comedy together in a way you've never seen before. Now, the award-winning foursome are blasting into outer space to meet a mysterious benefactor whose proposition seems a little too good to be true... 'Completely original... the music would be entertaining enough without all the other incredible action and comedy going on' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). 'Full of zest, action and charisma... unfailingly entertaining' **** (Chortle.co.uk). Warning: Contains scenes of graphic violins.
Mervyn Stutter
Host and Compere
Mervyn has been in the entertainment industry since 1974. He started in theatre where he acted, wrote scripts, songs, and directed for around 14 years. In the 1980s, he became the 'regular topical song bloke' on the BBC TV's first ever daytime show, 'Open Air', fronted by a thin Irishman called Eamonn Holmes. Over the years he has performed weekly topical songs on many TV current affairs programmes and more of the same on radio. In the late 1980s, he took his comedy songs onto the Comedy Circuit and then touring theatres. Merv's first Edinburgh Fringe was in 1986 and he has been every year since. 'Pick of the Fringe' started life as 'Have you seen anything good?', a show to help answer the perennial Fringe-goer question. The title was changed to 'Pick of the Fringe' in 1994 and it he has built it up into one of the must-see Fringe shows.
“Mervyn Stutter is very, very good as compere of this chat show, for to make such a showcase work requires skill, talent and quick reactions. Stutter works the crowd like the showman he is.”
THE OBSERVER