Edinburgh Pageant Fringe comedy opinions: Rhys Nicholson | Randy Feltface | Carter Morgan | Phil Ellis | Comedy Queers

Rhys Nicholson: Rhys! Rhys! Rhys! *****

Underbelly Bristo Sq. (venue 302), till 28 August

What a delight to observe a comic book so fully on prime of their sport. Rhys Nicholson is in charge of each nuance, each tone, each gesture of their fantastically manicured dancing fingers. There’s something completely relaxed about this assortment of flippantly interwoven anecdotes – but there may be artistry in each minute.

Rhys takes us inside their marriage, their home each day. There are tales of rising up homosexual in small city Australia, of the stunning variations of hanging out with the gays and the straights. Nicholson is in charge of their identification. Newly non-binary, they put on the label with grace, attraction and eccentricity – like one of many selfmade badges they promote after the present.

A lot of this materials appears extremely abnormal. Tales about going to the fitness center, about rising older, about working in lifeless finish jobs. However every part is shot by with a particular sparkle. It jogs my memory concerning the notion of comedy being like actual life, however barely tilted a few levels to the precise or to the left.

The massive laughs are available unusual and stunning locations, with a very apposite description of a horrible craft store lowering me to tears of laughter. Nicholson dances by the present, scattering blink and also you miss it micro impressions, virtually imperceptible facial quirks and materials so elegantly and fantastically crafted you may miss how skilfully it has been made.

It’s like an hour stuffed with magic methods. Nicholson makes use of weirdness and distinction as a superpower. Even being non binary can turn out to be a protecting defend – as they reveal in an unexpectedly emotive twist. What a privilege to benefit from the work of a performer who can ship such skilful, elegant and completely crafted get up – and conjure out of skinny air huge chuckle after huge chuckle after huge chuckle. Claire Smith

Randy Feltface: Alien of Extraordinary Capability ****

Meeting George Sq. (Venue 17), till 28 August (not 15)

It at all times amazes me {that a} comedian whose face is principally a purple foam rubber ball, with an enormous slashed mouth and googly eyes, can have such a variety of expressions. However one way or the other this absurdly featureless alien runs the gamut of human feelings – in addition to having the ability to dance, sing, do impersonations and stage battle.

Our cartoon hero can do drunk, lifeless, sexy and interact in staring contests with talkative members of the viewers. And make no mistake, he can speak like no one’s enterprise.

Randy has so much to say. Fairly the mental, his newest outing tackles the topic of environmental collapse, on the subject of the epic of Gilgamesh, the emergence of monotheistic faith and the Anglo-Zanzibar Warfare. Our little purple good friend explores the weird habits of varied endangered species of animal – which is related as a result of he’s, he explains, the final of his species.

There may be an absurdly lengthy recreation of the 2018 Liam Neeson movie The Commuter, which permits an prolonged show of cartoon violence. Randy Feltface manages to sing, play guitar and recreate the whole historical past of evolution. His interactions with the viewers are fast witted, humorous and uncannily actual.

There are many superb laughs on this quick paced caper. However there may be additionally so much to consider. Alongside the virtuoso puppetry, the profuse profanity and the excessive feelings, there’s a lethal severe logical argument about what has gone unsuitable with the world and what we will do to place it proper.

Environmental disaster is rising as one of many recurring subjects of this yr’s competition – with ‘the world is on hearth’ changing into a recurrent phrase. It says one thing concerning the perilous state of the world that we’d like a purple bubble headed alien to level it out. Claire Smith

Carter Morgan: Dick Jokes for Finish Occasions **

Simply the Tonic @ the Caves (Venue 88), till 28 August

Carter Morgan is a relaxed and charming American. An hour with him is laidback and beautiful, in its personal method. The viewers be taught so much about one another, and there are even laughs, not huge, however real. The one quibble I’ve, is that, arriving at a post-watershed present known as Dick Jokes for Finish Occasions to find your self in a gaggle, at the hours of darkness, chatting about relationships, is discombobulating, to say the least. Morgan calls it ‘improvised get up’. Crowd work, principally. However not as we late evening comedy followers realize it. Unsuitable title, unsuitable time slot, however an sudden and considerate possibility for those who actually do not simply need dick jokes. Kate Copstick

Simply the Tonic @ the Caves (Venue 88), till 28 August

On a great day, there isn’t any one higher on the comedy shambles than Phil Ellis. On a great day, his reveals could be the apotheosis of the artwork of light, hilarious bemusement. This isn’t a great day. And I’m not holding out a lot hope for tomorrow. Phil isn’t lower than likeable, by no means unsympathetic and his on stage persona because the entertaining loser is completely pitched to please the comedy ear of a UK viewers. Tales of the issues of watermelon storage in a shared home, and grim comedy gigs beside twin carriageways, sit alongside extra energetic annoyance with individuals who take stuff again to charity retailers, earlier than giving option to extra unlikely tales of twins he was unaware he had fathered and his dawning realisation that comedy is not every part. Which is definitely true of this present. It’s a unusual hour, solely held collectively by the truth that Ellis is a charismatic performer. This can be a nice instance of that outdated expression ‘the singer, not the track’. Which jogs my memory, followers of Gary Puckett could also be upset. Though, for these excited by the present’s title, relaxation assured, there’s a hedgehog. Kate Copstick

Laughing Horse @ the Counting Home (venue 170), till 28 August

With a couple of exceptions, this hour is 75% about figuring out as queer and 25% about comedy. It isn’t wholly satisfying in your laughing bits, feeling extra like you might be at a Queer within the Group help group the place asserting “I am bisexual” will get you an applause break. It’s a little on the self-satisfied aspect for me. Compere Robyn Perkins is punchy and correctly in cost and Prue Blake is good. New York Puerto-Rican Alana Johnson simply does not have the best gig however every part about her makes me positive, on a greater day, she may kick some comedy ass. All 6′ 2” of Kate Martin is properly assured and relaxed on stage. However their spots nonetheless really feel extra like ‘sharing with the group’ than a late evening ten minute set. Reece Thorne packs in additional laughs (though Emo Philips and Bobby Davro may need a few their jokes again) and Sam Morrison is simply fabulous. He’s intelligent, bitchy, has a wonderfully judged conceitedness quotient … he’s virtually the proper super-gay comedian. Bear in mind that you could be effectively go away the gig wishing you have been an older, paunchy, grey-haired homosexual man. I do know I did. Kate Copstick