Comedy Reviews

CLOSURE CABARET - Maria Ansdell

The lights go down on a stage, bedecked with a large, pink, satin heart, through which appears our Emcee for the night, the French cabaret performer, Razmatastique. A million miles from Kander & Ebb’s sinister Emcee in the musical Cabaret, our host here is a delightful companion, opening her heart to the audience to take us back through the lost loves of her life.

There’s the primary school pirate, the teenage rapper, the pretentious student poet, the almost husband, the cowboy Country & Western karaoke singer, all possible holders of the key to Razmatastique’s heart, and all sadly unreliable.

Razmatastique and all her objects of desire are brought lovingly to life by character comedian Maria Ansdell in this delightful show. With elements of clowning and physical comedy, there’s a delicacy to each performance that draws you into the show, and Razmatastique herself is a charming creation – someone so adorable, but also vulnerable, you really hope that she’ll get her happy ending. Will it be in the form of another man, or will she (as Whitney Houston might sing) learn to love herself?

The audience are very much a part of the show, being picked out to play various roles during the show, but there’s nothing demeaning or embarrassing about it – I played three roles during the course of the show, and was happy to be part of the action.

Closure Cabaret is fun, silly, and ultimately very sweet. Spending an hour in the company of such a hopeful, warm presence as Razmatastique (and the talented Maria Ansdell) is the perfect antidote to a dark and threatening world. Catch Closure Cabaret if you can.

Robbie Carnegie

55 MINUTES OF ADEQUATELY AMUSING JOKES AND STORIES - Jesters

A familiar face on the Fringe both as part of A Political Brunch and having performed his own semi-autobiographical show When I’m 64 here a few years ago, Chris O’Neill turned out to be the unnamed Irishman promising ‘55 Minutes of Adequately Amusing Jokes and Stories’.

The fact that it was not much of a promise turned out to be because this was a work in progress en route to Edinburgh, the main theme being that he had recently turned 67, except that, as he confessed, he hadn’t quite done that, though he would be 67 by the time he reached Edinburgh. Either way, he acknowledged that 'Some people say my face has a lived-in look. Others say I’ve had squatters'.

What else to say? There were to be ‘no dead dad stories’ as his dad died too long ago when he was just three. His mother? She loved him unconditionally - ‘again, no real use for comedy…’ Offspring are always a good bet and he delivered some dark material about what happens when you let children do their worst with those virtual people called the Sims - never mind what happens when they grow up to choose your care home. As for his love life, he was in an open marriage - ‘open in the sense of a shopping mall - nobody really wants the goods’.

His home country of Ireland provided further material and it is probably no coincidence that the person in the audience who was born in Dublin seemed to appreciate these stories the most including his talk about his home town of Naas some 20 miles from the Republic of Ireland capital, and the antics of a disgraced former mayor there.

The performance turned into a ‘Is there anything that really annoys you?’ conversation with the audience, something he admitted was designed to spark some comedy, which to be fair it did.

So did this show do what it said on the tin as the blurb promised? ‘It was funny in a strange sort of way’, I heard one woman comment as she left. O’Neill certainly does have a way with him that makes him engaging company so I have no doubt the show will come together. It was nowhere near 55 minutes though so he has some work to do yet.

Stephanie Billen

2 DAD, OR NOT 2 DAD - Jim Bob

Jim kicked off his show by stating that it was a work in progress for Edinburgh. We were the guinea pigs and he would keep jokes in if we laughed and if there were silence, he’d strike them out. There were quite a few ‘Well, that usually gets a laugh’ moments. Maybe we’re harder to please in Buxton or it could just be that he didn’t give us enough time for the joke to land. He knew what was coming, we did not.

This was a show all about fatherhood of course and it was twofold. We discovered from the get go that Jim’s dad had left the family when he was 8 years old. Old enough to know what had happened but not old enough to understand. He joked about his rather full frame by saying that he had replaced his dad issues with pie issues and as he sported a rather large grey beard there were quite a few Santa jokes. His home town of Bolton also came under fire. A balanced diet is a pie in each hand. Chip fat is a vape flavour.

Mostly this show was about Jim as a single dad, bringing up a teenage daughter without a paternal road map. He likened it to his time in the army in Bosnia. At least the Serbs didn’t say they wished he was dead to his face. It was all psychological warfare wrapped in fatherly love as he desperately tried to negotiate his way through her teenage years. He hadn’t been helped either by his own upbringing. There was no dad but there was a mum and a sister, but neither of them helped prepare him to bring up a daughter on his own. He never saw a single sign to guide him. Never a sign of any sanitary products or even a bra. He really was on his own in enemy territory.

This was a comedy tour de force. An hour long monologue delivered from a laptop with a lot of excellent jokes and poignant moments. Jim is a very funny man and his observations on life and fatherhood especially would have struck a chord with many in the audience.

Moira Kean

TOM SHORT I GET CHATGPT TO WRITE MY EDINBURGH SHOW - Tom Short

Tom kicked off his show with a debate on the pros and cons of AI. The audience was mainly pro AI which I assume was why they’d come to this show. There followed a hilarious diatribe on how people have always dissed new technologies. AI is the work of the devil, why can’t you just use Photoshop? Photoshop is the work of the devil, why not just take a photo? Cameras? Why can’t you just paint a picture… and all the way back to cave paintings via printing presses and monks. You get the picture. It’s a fair point.

Then came the fun part. The audience had been invited to upload random words and thoughts via a QR code onto an app. Then came the revelation on screen. Which ones would he pick to generate his comedy show? He picked puppets, chatting to a dead celebrity and Betty Boothroyd. Tom had no idea who Betty Boothroyd was which made it even funnier when he turned her into a sock puppet. It meant he could shout Order! Order! at any point in the proceedings (having been subjected to a quick lecture on the life of BB by an audience member of course).

Having fed our responses into ChatGPT, Tom then prompted it to come up with ‘The Best Comedy Set In The World’ which it did do via a rather uninspiring black and white PowerPoint presentation starting with the heading “Inciting Incident’. Tom did a very good job of ploughing through the presentation ad-libbing as necessary with Betty’s help. It was clever and funny, but I can’t help thinking there might be a more audience friendly way for ChatGPT to generate its findings. Maybe add ‘in an exciting and colourful way’ into the prompt, Tom? Who knows? Tom did say it felt a bit like dying by PowerPoint.

Tom's reason for using ChatGPT was that he wanted to be an observational comedian but his life was too boring. There then followed an extremely funny piece on reading the back of a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. Who knew you could get so many laughs from a simple list of ingredients?

All in all, this was a great idea with some very funny moments but it needed a bit more thought around the ChatGPT offering.

This was a one off performance but Tom will soon be heading to Edinburgh. Good luck!

Moira Kean

MUSIC IS THE FOOD OF LOVE - I Can See The Stage From Here

I was going to say that this is one for the dads. Then I checked the calendar, noticed the relentless march of time and realised that ‘one for the grandads’ might be more accurate. But that isn’t really fair to this fun show. Whatever age you are, if you like classic rock/pop bangers with a heavy emphasis on the 1970s and 80s, then this is the show for you.

Music is the Food of Love is a music-based panel show between two teams of two members each, held approximately in check by the host. Everyone has a tremendous amount of hair (most of it grey) and there is at least one pair of leather trousers. At one point, the host explains that the show is a bit like I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the classic Radio 4 programme. That feels about right, except that I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue was never this hirsute, not even when Willie Rushton was alive. There’s lots of largely irrelevant banter and plenty of silly games to keep both the panellists and the audience entertained. Games such as Character Karaoke and Now That’s What I Call Battleships. Or something.

The whole thing feels deceptively shambolic, mainly because of the general unruliness of the panellists and a certain amount of improvisation with regard to the equipment. But actually, our host runs things pretty smoothly and I suspect the amiable chaos is a feature rather than a bug.

Holding the whole show together is the musical cement of classic songs that had everyone in the audience nodding and tapping along in unison. Deep Purple, Heaven 17, Eric Clapton, Cyndi Lauper, Adam and the Ants, Genesis. And inevitably, Hocus Pocus, by Focus.

In the end, I think the red team won after a tie-break. I can’t really remember and it certainly doesn’t matter.

Is Music the Food of Love? Rock On!

Anna Girolami

ACHTUNG! THE GERMANS ARE COMING - Jürgen Strack

As I arrived at the Lee Wood Hotel, a large man was striding around the lobby in lederhosen with a German flag wrapped around his shoulders. Given the title of the show, I felt I knew exactly what was coming.

And yes, there were a lot of the expected cultural references: Aldi and Lidl, a love of mathematical uniformity and even a whistled snatch of Dambusters. We discovered how many German words we already knew and learnt some more – we were almost fluent! But there’s so much more going on here to subvert our expectations.

Jürgen is not just a teller of jokes, although he does tell great gags, there’s also the comedy of awkwardness with the too-long pauses and standing too close to audience members, plus surrealism, especially when he introduces his French character, beret and all. Yet it is all done with such energy. And he’s got a much better singing voice than compatriot, Henning Wehn (another Buxton Fringe alumna).

It’s hard to know what to make of it all, but the audience lapped it up, and one thing’s for sure, Jürgen Strack is funny.

Stephen Walker

EVERY GHOST STORY EVER - Four Presidents

Are you a fan of the spooky and macabre? And can you claim to have heard of every ghost story ever? Well, after this show, you just might!

Every Ghost Story Ever Is a hilarious comedy set presented by the Four Presidents, aiming to give you a whistle stop tour of the world's most famous and influential ghosts (and ghost writers).

Held in Scriveners bookshop in Buxton, we are gathered in one of their reading rooms, amongst the ancient books and antique chairs. Billy Bones, our host for the evening, is perusing his notebook thoroughly, dressed in his silken robe and cravat. This is a man who means business in the world of ghouls and spooks, and with an abrupt 'snap' of his book closing, his booming voice brings us into his supernatural world. This is a show that takes us across the globe: from Tutankhamun's curse in Egypt; the disappearance of the crew from the Mary Celeste in the Atlantic; and even to the first ever ghost story we know of, all the way from Ancient Rome.

To liven things up, there are props such as an old TV, which hosts clips from horror films and photos of the supposed supernatural. There was also a good dose of crowd work, where members of the audience acted out ghost stories and shared our personal ghost sightings with each other. Over the hour-long duration, there was no knowing which spooky trail we might wind down next. Unfortunately, it seemed the ghosts of Buxton were with us too (and tampering), as there were a few technical difficulties. But Billy Bones seized every opportunity to throw in extra laughs and keep the show moving, despite the ghostly interferences.

Now this was Billy Bones' only appearance in Buxton at this fringe, but you can still catch this show around the country at later dates, and hopefully the Four Presidents will return to haunt the fringe next year, with even more spooks and laughs.

As the old story goes: Billy Bones tells ghost stories to frightened Buxtonians in Scrivener's bookshop. And if you listen closely, you can still hear them scream!

Amy Powell

MATT WHEELWRIGHT: BUG BOY - Matt Wheelwright

Matt Wheelwright’s Bug Boy attracted an enthusiastic audience to Den Of Laughs at the Lee Wood hotel. Matt used to be an entomologist, and takes us through fascinating facts about insects (and invertebrates). This is a show where you have to pay attention, because the humorous connections he makes are very quick, often pretty erudite, and quite unpredictable.

A flight of fancy which began with bees being tested for water survival skills 'just like at the Salem witch trials' travelled all the way through bees playing football (yellow and black against black and yellow) and taking cocaine, right up to Samson ripping a lion apart with his bare hands to find a bees' nest inside (which was unexpected). Matt really has a wide range of knowledge and references to draw on - ranging from medieval villagers taking the weevils who had eaten their crops to court and what happened (the court records were destroyed by insects...) to name checking Nicki Minaj and knowing what fly was named after Beyoncé and by whom, via a diversion about whether or not taxonomists are boring.

He also links his love of insects to his dyspraxia, performs a physical demonstration (quite striking!) of his hypermobility and discusses the link between insects and kink (depriving fruit flies of dopamine makes them masochistic). Not just a show about insects, this is also a show about life (and love) challenges, and about his being a test-tube baby. There are some very funny lines - a comparison between mosquitos, which we swat away and vampires which we find erotic 'because we're less tolerant of a fly than we are of the landed gentry', and some funny concepts which he elaborates on - e.g. why not order types of arachnid according to how well they would work as answers to a survey (with 'tick' and 'mite' at the top...). There's a lot going on here!

Matt's delivery is quirky and effective, and the persona he has created is very likeable, and works well with the material. This is a great show, which I came out of with a greater appreciation for insects. This was Matt's only show at the Buxton Fringe this year, but he's definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Susie Halksworth

SONGS FOR THE 2020s - Majk Stokes

Comedy poet and singer-songwriter Majk Stokes, casts a weather eye over the 2020s in his intimate show at the more than full Scriveners Bookshop.

It’s fair to say that Majk (pronounced Mike, but once he saw it spelt this way in Bosnia, he adopted it) is less than enamoured by this decade so far in his anthem ‘Everything’s a bit sh*t’ which weaves in and out throughout the show.

There was a song for all that ails us in the 2020s – terrible Prime Ministers, Covid, Tariffs – but the most successful were those that addressed lesser-known issues. ‘Biscuits and Idealism’ told of how the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster has been raided twice by police under new anti-protest laws on suspicion of people just organising protests. It cleverly wove in the optimism of those present with plenty of funny biscuit reference in a satire of those who would be threatened by such things.

He mixes up his songs with some poetry, and the occasional pastiche – ‘Starmer’ to the tune of Bowie’s ‘Star Man’ was particularly funny – and a reworking of an old whaling song in honour of the work of Greenpeace turned a classic folk form to new use.

Majk is genial company, the earnestness of his political expression leavened by some good jokes. Only the one show in Buxton, but good to see extra chairs being found to squeeze us all in.

PS Majk challenged us to discover the source of the line ‘Spare me this mockery of justice’. I had to wait to get home and use a search engine (the ethical Ecosia, not Google!) to discover it was from the Transformers!

Stephen Walker

WILL BF: MOON TEAM IIIV - Will BF

Moon Team IIIV, the prequel sequel to one of the greatest films never made, was disastrously unsuccessful. But perhaps it is time for a reappraisal as Will BF’s bonkers show pays tribute to this putative cult classic.

Through a crazed mix of film clips and sketches, not to mention computer hacking and gaming – thank goodness there are ‘experts’ in the audience – this film is brought to larger-than-life.

Will BF’s all-action portrayals of heroes and villains are hilarious, especially if the costume has been accidentally made without eye-holes. The talking heads on screen, all looking suspiciously like Will BF, are suitably ridiculous. The puppets bring more silliness; WD-40 the robot, Houston the incredibly intelligent rat, Flora the er, flora, and the tragic fish out of water, Swimothy. Members of the audience featuring as a computer hacker and spaceship pilot is particularly ingeniously done.

The skill in producing a show that seems as chaotic as Moon Team IIIV is conversely a real attention to detail and no opportunity for a gag is wasted. Will BF is a master of this particular form of havoc, long may he continue.

Stephen Walker

ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT PROCRASTINATING PUNDIT - Denzil de Cristo

Denzil’s show promises puns, parodies, and pedantry along with ludicrously bad singing and nerdy one liners. Not bad as a premise for an hour long comedy show. Denzil did deliver all those things and more. The singing did however cause some grimaces from the musical audience member sitting beside me.

There wasn’t any hanging about, we went straight in with the awful jokes: I put my shoes on the wrong feet this morning and I don’t know who’s wearing them now. Cue groans. But as with the best of these kinds of one liners, it takes a second for the penny to drop.

Denzil’s material went through some rather obvious tropes like religion, but also rather weirdly sci-fi and Dolly Parton via Dolly the Sheep and ending with the really badly sung (apologies to the musical audience member) version of Jolene which went something like 'Oh gene, oh gene, please don’t clone my lamb.' Say no more.

Denzil went out of his way to engage with the audience asking for names and shaking hands, building up rapport and repartee. There weren't too many in the audience, so there was really nowhere to hide but that was ok, everyone was happy to join in.

There was some deft interplay with some cleverly thought out pre-recorded Alexa clips on an Ipad which raised a few smiles. And lots and lots of jokes about masturbation which were all a bit samey in the end, he really didn’t need a hand with any of those.

If you’re into terrible puns and jokes, and feel like groaning for an hour then this is the show for you!

Denzil is of course responsible for bringing his Den of Laughs show to the Lee Wood Hotel. 45 comedy shows over two weekends is no mean feat of organisation. Another big hand for Denzil for bringing the laughs (and the groans) to Buxton Fringe this year.

This show was a one off but Den of Laughs still has one day to run (Sunday 19th). Catch them if you can!

Moira Kean

DEVIN GRAY - GOLDEN RETRIEVER ENERGY - Devin Gray

First time Fringer Devin Gray bought us his new show ‘Golden Retriever Energy’ which he claimed was a description of how someone might be seen through the eyes of another - you know the type, eager to please tail-wagging sort of thing. Anyway, it’s more of a ramble through a number of cultural and psychological phenomena which results in a show which really caught the imagination of the audience!

Picture growing up in South Africa, marrying a German, living with generalised anxiety disorder, divorcing, moving to Singapore and then the UK, living with generalised anxiety disorder and eventually establishing a relationship you’re ‘happy’ in. Oh, and your new partner has ADHD… and you still have generalised anxiety disorder. Well, that’s the backdrop to the show.

The trials and tribulations of life, therapy, shopping, language and sex all played a part in a thoroughly absorbing show which drew many a loud laugh! The women sitting in front of me were in stitches and were frequently looking at their men. Hmmm.

Although Devin said it was a work in progress he barely looked at his notes and gave us a polished, confident performance and got a round of rousing applause at the end. Such a shame it was a one-off, but hopefully he’ll be back next year!

Ian Parker Heath

TERRY'S TERRYFYING TALES - Neil Donoghue

What can I say about Terry’s Terryfying Tales? Officially, Terry and his sidekick cat Fiddleticks bring ‘three terrifying tales from UK UFO folklore vividly to life using film and cutting edge special effects.’ Are you with me so far?

Terry Pastry is the unexpected star from The Great British Sewing Bee where he was introduced by contestant Neil Donoghue. Neil bills himself as an artist, restorer and maker of things. You’d have to add being slightly eccentric into this mix too, as only that combination can explain the multi-media experience offered by this show. As Terry - ably assisted by Neil - narrated from behind the screen, a whole mash up of film clips, live action special effects involving spaceships dangling from hooks, Neil crawling across the floor and other associated bits of mayhem evolved in front of our eyes. The mechanisms holding the whole thing together were the three UFO tales designed to be ‘terryfying’. They really weren’t of course, but the packed house absolutely loved it, roaring with laughter at the somewhat confusing chaos unfolding before them.

The puppets and special effects transported us back to the 1970s and the world of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson. The era of children’s TV must watch shows like Stingray, Thunderbirds and my all time favourite, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. I can still hear the title music now. There were also references to Opportunity Knocks and discos. Ah those were the days!

This show was all about nostalgia really, and great fun for this audience who clearly remembered those days.

Long may Terry continue to entertain with his eccentric world of puppet mayhem. I don’t think Steven Spielberg will be trembling in his boots quite yet.

Moira Kean

SLIGHTLY PSYCHIC CYNTHIA AND LEON’S ALIEN GAMESHOW - Liz Johnson

At the Lee Wood Canyons yesterday tea time, Liz Johnson introduced us to her two delightful puppet friends.

First up was Leon who compèred his Alien Gameshow. Leon is either an octopus or an alien octopoid, I was never quite sure which. Either way, he has a preoccupation with the likely presence of aliens on Earth, the moon landings and what NASA really stands for. This preoccupation manifests itself through such amiably silly game shows as Bingo, Spin the Wheel and Alien Erection Hoopla (which is, if you can get your head around the idea, exactly what it sounds like).

Leon entertained us for twenty minutes and then, for the rest of the hour, we were in the company of Slightly Psychic Cynthia, Liz’s cheerfully potty-mouthed late grandma. She used familiar spirit world aids such as Tarot cards and teacups to predict the future of whichever hapless audience member she picked on next.

The puppets were wonderful, as is Liz’s ability to speak through them. I actually forgot she was there, much of the time. The props were either genuinely impressive or endearingly lo-tech. Everything is good-natured and the audience largely played along with it (although I can imagine that it doesn’t always land well).

But the balance of the show needs some work. We saw much more of Cynthia than we did of Leon. While it is undoubtedly funny when a sweet little old lady opens her mouth and unleashes a stream of X-rated invective, there is a risk of it all becoming a bit one-note. Cynthia perhaps needs to have a bit more up her beautifully-made sleeve. The Bee Gees Ouija board section was very funny. More of that please!

(No further performances.)

Anna Girolami

COMIC HARMONIC: THE IMPROVISED CONCERT - MissImp

MissImp is a Nottingham-based improvised comedy theatre group, three of whom gave us Comic Harmonic (an hour of improvised songs) at the Lee Wood Pendennis room.

I’ve seen lots of improv over the years at Buxton Fringe and I’m always amazed by the ingenuity of the performers and the sheer bloody courage it must take to stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and hope with all your heart that you can think of something in time.

Yesterday's performers were two singers plus Gary on one of those useful keyboards that can also sound like a banjo or a trumpet, when required. He also added a bass voice to the backing vocals now and again. Audience members were asked for prompts and Gary provided a musical skeleton which the singers then had to clothe with an immediate response.

Our trio demonstrated a panoply of finely-honed skills, such as an inbuilt sense of rhythm, the ability to rhyme ‘curly’ with ‘surly’ at the drop of a hat and the absolute conviction that if you repeat a phrase often enough, it soon starts to sound like a perfectly plausible refrain.

The musical styles wandered widely from eighties synth through rap, blues, musical theatre(ish) and gospel. The songs inspired by the audience prompts were cheerfully scattergun. We were treated to odes to carrot cake and exploding double basses plus a surprisingly revisionist history of Florence Nightingale.

This is a lovely cheery show and the audience responded in kind. The thoroughly feel-good hour contained not just singing but some exceptional dancing as well. This was the only performance of Comic Harmonic at this year’s Fringe. If you’re in Nottingham and you get the chance to see them, I would jump at it.

Anna Girolami

EDY HURST: PICK UP THY BOW AND SWIM! OH MIGHTY KING OF ITHACA - Edy Hurst

Edy Hurst is something of a Fringe favourite and can always be relied on to bring the bizarre and often wonderful to town and he’s returned with a timely reminder of his unique re-telling of the tale we’ve known as The Odyssey. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Not having a Hollywood level budget failed to deter Edy from taking on this mammoth task for one man and a range of shop bought props.

The bones of the tale are all there if not all the trappings, and the audience are engaged from the start and thoroughly enjoyed the fishing experiment with jelly babies. As an audience we were a little reluctant to provide the wind necessary to blow Odysseus off-course but a volunteer bravely had a go!

Unfortunately, there were pre-show issues which meant a delay of around 15 minutes and then it became a case of trying to edit material of the fly making the show somewhat disjointed, but Edy pressed on in his own inimitable style and the audience were happy with their show.

You can catch the show again this evening (19th) at Underground Springs for your next helping of The Odyssey!

Ian Parker Heath

PAUL DENNIS: TITLE EXPLAINED IN BLURB - THE MUSICAL - Hysterionics Productions

Paul Dennis came to us from Swansea for a one-off show which tells you something. Indeed, he went on to tell us a lot about himself, the cultural character of his neighbourhood and of course the place of music in the pantheon of comedy genres. A lot of ground to cover then in a short time.

Home life is such a rich source of material for comedians who typically give us tall tales. Paul is no exception, it’s just that he uses music too. Parents, church, school all got a look in throughout the set. Hyperattention to detail in querying his mum's concern that everyone could see his dad picking his nose whilst driving at 70mph up a motorway was just one treat we were given.

Some of the material utilised well-known songs to humourous effect, but many of the songs were his own work which was appreciated by the audience. Despite being clearly nervous at the beginning he soon settled into his set and looked a more confident performer. Keen to engage with his audience we were given spontaneous numbers and snippets based on audience favourites.

All of this was wrapped in a blanket of self-deprecation, occasional pathos and mental health in the form of high-functioning autism. A gentle way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Ian Parker Heath

IDIOMOCY - Jesters

This was a panel game based on idiomatic phrases which have been translated literally from foreign languages.

The panel was given the translation and asked to improvise a sensible interpretation. Examples were: 'like a sausage to me' (rom Austria), another was 'there are no cows on the snow' (Sweden), you get the idea. There were a few phrases offered by the audience and the three panel members made of them what they could.

The panel struggled to come up with amusing meanings on some of the more obscure examples, in fact they were ‘walking in hot porridge’ some of the time. One was struggling until another member offered to ‘eat his liver’.

This show was a one off performance and if there is intention to make this a series then they may quickly run out of phrases in fact the ‘cicadas may burst’, if they haven’t already.

Brian Kirman

A HAUNTED HOUSE - David Hoskin

What an extraordinary show this is! Our creepy host, Uncle Lester, takes us on a tour of his haunted house. On the way, we meet zombies, vampires, a werewolf, a wig containing the life force of a dead relative and a pesky willie with a life of its own. All delivered by one man. David Hoskin is a force of nature. Combining mime and comedy and turning the whole thing up to 11, Hoskin delivers a show so packed with energy, invention and crazy ideas that you’ll be left reeling.

There’s always something to surprise and delight, whether it’s Hoskin’s vocal pyrotechnics, his physical precision, or his frequent inclusion of the audience in his mad world. Some of the situations are mysterious and nightmarish, like something out of a David Lynch dream sequence, and as the show goes on, it does take on a dream-like quality of weirdness all its own. You never know what you’re going to see next.

Hoskin admits that he never knows how to end a show, and that’s certainly in evidence here – there’s such a glut of ideas that it has more endings than the Director’s Cut of The Lord of the Rings. At one point I did think I might be locked in the dark dungeon that is Underground Venues all night! But that’s forgivable in a show so original, so bizarre, that the audience is more than happy to be carried along on the journey for as long as it lasts.

One more performance: Sun 19th 20:30-21:30

Robbie Carnegie

JESS CARRIVICK: FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION - Jess Carrivick

As children, Jess Carrivick and her brother Jack took a leaf out of their film director father’s book and made their own home movies. This is the inspiration for this delightfully silly, constantly inventive and warm comedy show.

We are introduced to Jess as a cinema usher, showing us to our seats and, during the course of the show, diligently policing mobile phones going off (‘Ssshh, there’s a film on’) and spillages of popcorn (my mum always said I’d be happy sweeping the stage). From there, we are introduced to a series of characters each starring in their own film – the Judy Garland-esque fading star in concert, the Emma Thompson-esque yummy mummy desperate for a reconnection with someone she acted with years before, the Willem Defoe-inspired lighthouse keeper, the dance school wannabe. Jess Carrivick is a skilled character comedian, with an ear for an unlikely catchphrase (‘I can’t swim!’) and each of these is beautifully detailed and very funny.

The reason we’re seeing these ‘films’ is for the consideration of the academy, and Jess has, as we later find out, personal reasons for wanting to get their attention. This, along with the interspersed home movie footage, gives what could be collection of disparate, fun sketches a interlinking motivation that lifts this show to another level.

I realised towards the end of the show, that my face was aching from the constant smile I’d had on it for the last hour. For Your Consideration shows Jess Carrivick to be a comedy force to be reckoned with and I’m sure we’ll see much more of her in the future.

And any show which celebrates the late, great Glynis Johns is a hit in my book!

Robbie Carnegie

199 JOKES BEFORE LUNCHTIME: DANNY MATINEE! - Danny Matinee

A show promising such a lot of jokes in such a short amount of time could quickly go wrong and become repetitive. Fortunately, in Matinees hands, 199 jokes before lunchtime never felt forced, clipping along with an assured sense of timing which showcases the skill and likability of the performer.

A series of one liners got things off to a good start, moving on to a section of visual jokes which were well received. The section where Matinee gives punchlines and invites the audience to guess the joke was a highlight and valuable tips on writing jokes were scattered through the show. The AI jokes were particularly well received with some genuine belly laughs from the audience.

Its not easy to pull off so many jokes and keep it family friendly, but Matinee managed with ease, engaging with the children in the audience in a way which felt warm and friendly but never patronizing. Well worth the price of admission.

Julie Eastdown

THE IMPROVISED SURPRISE PARTY! - Twinprov

Twinprov's Improvised Surprise Party is exactly what it says on the tin - the audience collaborate with Sarah and Julie in creating a party, deciding on the atmosphere, games, and even the person the party is for. The scene opens on a sparkly curtain and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY (with appropriate spelling mistakes), and the audience are handed party bags with party hats, party blowers and some Haribo Tangfastics to get everyone in the mood. But Sarah and Julie haven't planned this all that well, we soon realise: so, first we have to establish who the party is for, and how we can tempt him/ her to turn up!

The audience had a great time, understood the premise of the show very quickly, and participated enthusiastically. Sarah and Julie led us with energy and good humour through a mix of activities: from funny improv games between the two of them using prompts from the audience, to games which involved everyone, for example a pass-the-parcel (with real prizes!). The question 'where's your favourite place in Buxton?' prompted the answer 'Greggs!' (possibly reflecting the youth of a lot of the audience members...) which led to a scene involving a discussion between a vegan and a non-vegan sausage roll on the shelf.

The Great Buxton Geese Controversy was integrated too. A game using an audience member's whatsapps as dialogue worked very well and was well received, and the introduction of yes and no buzzers to let members of the audience comment on a scene based on their experiences was funny and well thought out.

Sarah and Julie handle the audience interaction well - everyone can be involved on the level they're comfortable with (or not at all). The idea of co-creating an experience with the audience is a lot of fun, and was effective - there was a real feeling of interactivity, and the audience certainly got behind it. It ended on a real party atmosphere! Lots of fun.

The Improvised Surprise Party can be seen again on Sunday 19th 5:30pm, at Underground at the Working Men's Club.

JAKE YAPP: CORNERSHOP SHOWDOWN - Jake Yapp

Now, I’m not a huge fan of game shows, or even a fan really, but Cornershop Showdown was a fantastic way to start an evening! Hosted by Jake Yapp and his glamourous assistant Julie we were treated to a hoot from start to finish, with hardly a pause for breath!

The show is set in 1976, but a 1976 on steroids! It takes all the elements of your average 70s game show and boots them into overdrive. Tacky prizes nobody wants? Here you can almost win your weight in fags! Fags, fags, fags everywhere – your GP’s nightmare!

From the introductory song about Buxton – you must listen to it – you know you are in for a fun time. Our hosts are genial, welcoming and possibly in denial and with the help of a mass of audience participation it all moves along very nicely indeed. Special mention should be made of the on-stage participants Graham and Martin (selected by what looked like a nerf gun firing fags) who more than held their own for the majority of the show. Bravo chaps!

It was by turn eye-wateringly funny, cringe-inducing, memory provoking and bonkers! Each round was seemingly topping the previous including a round called ‘More or Less Tar’ and one featuring ‘The Bl*ck and Wh*te Minstrels (as a child I was taken to see the real thing and still carry the scars).

All of this is held together by Jake (loved the shoes) and Julie – who is rarely without a fag or drink in her hand – and it is one of the funniest shows I’ve seen at the Fringe in a while. I urge you to catch it this evening (18th) at Underground Springs and avoid the inevitable disappointing end to another World Cup. You’ll be so glad you did.

Ian Parker Heath

BEHIND THE LAUGHTER - Laugh For Life Comedy

Sometimes at a ‘charity gig’ our expectations are for ‘not very good’ or ‘plucky but not quite to standard’ and we have to make allowances, but not on this occasion. Henry Churney chose five of his ‘graduates’ with very different styles from each other for the first performance at Buxton and they were all, in their way excellent and very funny.

The Laugh for Life Comedy Group was set up by Henry to help those with mental health issues in their recovery and re-habilitation. Henry, an established stage comic himself, has seen over 120 people go through his course and he has seen a marked improvement in their self esteem and confidence.

First off we had Richard Rudin who talked us through his mental health journey. Not as bleak as it sounds especially when he described his hallucinations and the one-upmanship of himself being ‘Section 3’ in the Mental Health Act; he naturally looked down on those only detained under section 2. A brave monologue leavened by humour.

I must admit that I was apprehensive about this show becoming a processions of woeful stories of the performers problems but next act was John Boyd who after explaining his memory was poor and he hasn’t adapted to PC speech launched into a comic poem called The Laundry Blues. This was an extended metaphor for a wife being disappointed with her partner’s bedroom performances and seeking satisfaction from her automatic washing machine. Very well received by the audience and the length of this showed that John’s memory ain't all that bad.

Brian Kett was next, presenting himself as a drunken reveller which reminded me of the character in the play ‘Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell’. To stand for so long eyeing up the audience before speaking a word shows great confidence and his following discussion was about internet dating at a mature age. He wondered at the propensity of youths to send ‘dick pics’ and finished by telling us he posted, for himself, an ad he had recently used to sell his car, 'Bit of a banger, been round the block a few times, several previous owners….’ you get the idea.

John Mac told his own story about being recommended an exercise programme following a break of poor health. Gyms were not his world at all and he described the Lycra and tight shorts and muscle shirts with alarm. He took to the treadmill and after a lot of work developed thighs like a marathon runner. Unfortunately he retained the belly of a darts player.

Last up in this session was Marie Rooney who has an ebullient presence being short and (reportedly) 87. She told us jokes remembered from her family (some quite rude) and her days working as a dinner lady in Liverpool. Her scouse accent was thick and clearly the genuine article. A delightful end to the show.

There is a second show later the same day (Friday) featuring different comedians which you will have missed by the time you read this but we hope to welcome Henry to Buxton in future years with more of his graduates.

Brian Kirman

THE JOY OF MYCOCK! - Dr Andy Mycock

Once a resident of Buxton, Andy Mycock returned to the Palace Hotel after last year's successful show about his name, which led to him making a programme for Radio 4. This very reviewer was given the honour of introducing the man himself; we were all ready for more of Mycock.

This year was more a take on the cock itself, with Andy taking us around the world and around the country to cover all things Cock. Had anyone counted the cocks on Hadrian's' Wall? Meanwhile the Australians have been having great fun too with newspapers putting cocks onto pictures of Donald Trump, amongst others.

He also treated us to a trip through history - had anyone seen that Egypt's King Tutankhamun was embalmed in an unusual way, including having his penis mummified at a 90-degree angle?

There was lots of talk on banning social media for children trying to get by with a name like Mycock.

Is this comedy? Is this a lecture? Is this just interesting - or is this just a load of cock?! Whatever your verdict, this is an entertaining, engaging and at times hilarious show, the lecture and slides format delivering a lot of cocks with Andy proving the best cockologist around. We should all learn to love Mycock!

The evening ended in a sort of Take Hart moment, except the only art on offer was all about cocks. We had cock coasters, won in fact by my wife. Prizes were won, cocks were drawn and fun was had by all the audience.

Sadly this is his only show of the Fringe but I am sure there will be more of Mycock next year.

Robert Harrison

ALEX PRESCOT: COSY - Alex Prescot

Utterly charming way to share an hour with a joyous host and his participating audience - joining together on liberally distributed cosy cushions makes so much more fun.

Essentially the sad tale of a double-act coming to an inglorious end, Alex, who incidentally is really, really nice, involves and cajoles his audience into an audition to replace his absent antipodean-inhabiting partner, Nick Name.

His Mum loves him and so will you. He's like Mikha in top gear on a Japanese bullet train. He's like an upbeat and chirpy version of a magnum of champagne. He's sooooo fizzy!

There's adult language and pathos, courtesy of his training at the Musical Theatre Summer School, aka MTSS, the place where he met Nick. But it is essentially a feel-good musical comedy act that'll take away the blues and leave a smile.

Alex is currently writing more stuff for a new show, but is appearing in Mothman the Musical at the Edingurgh Fringe this summer. Multi-talented, that's thanks to his MTSS training!

David Carlisle

KATE BUTCH: A KATE IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUTCH - Kate Butch

If you are from Buxton and don’t know who Kate Butch is, firstly, where on this earth have you been hiding and, secondly, get down to this show asap to get acquainted with this Buxton ICON. Okay, so I may be entirely biased and jumped at the chance to review this show as I have loved all the shows and content Kate has been creating since Kate Butch debuted. Yet, that does not preclude me from giving an honest review of her show.

So here goes, 'A Kate In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Butch' is a comedic exploration of all those things Kate doesn’t like about herself and how proverbs are helping her be a better person. Full of NSFW jokes, many a side-eye, petty judgements (which you will probably agree with), audience participation and even some shade on renting projectors, you will be smiling from the moment you sit down and right into the next day.

Kate’s sarcastic and witty humour is truly hilarious, and she made a usually drab weekday evening into an event I was looking forward to. All while wearing high heels and 4 pairs of tights no less! Speaking of heels, Kate, if you are reading this, you looked fabulous, from the pink heels to the bespoke William Morris creation, you smashed it.

So what, Buxton, what are you waiting for? With only a handful of tickets left as I type, go grab yours now so you don’t miss out on one of the “must-see” returning performers slaying it in her hometown, before taking the show to the Edinburgh Fringe. You won’t regret it and you may even get inspiration for you next Tesco Meal Deal choices.

Toni Saxton

SELINA MOSINSKI: PUSS IN BOOTS - A WORKING CLASS FAIRY TALE (WORK IN PROGRESS) - Selina Mosinski

Selina Mosinski's Puss in Boots - A Working Class Fairy Tale (Work In Progress) is at Underground at Spring Gardens for one performance only. Selina really deserves credit for going ahead with her performance, which was on the same night as the England-Argentina game. This had reduced her audience quite considerably - without it she would have had many more (and she certainly deserved many more). Those of us who were there had a great time though - she was hilarious. This is a performance which relies very heavily on tech (there is a video screen in the background, with animated clips forming part of the performance, lighting effects, soundtracks etc) and there were some teething troubles on the night. It didn't affect our enjoyment - Selina dealt with it very elegantly and made it part of the comedy.

The premise of Puss In Boots is that we are transported back to 1996, where Sylvia Young (of the Sylvia Young Stage School, which did indeed play a major role in the rags to riches tails of all the 90s stars!) forms a kind of animated Fairy Godmother to Selina, guiding her from being a working-class girl in Derby to the bright lights of London, via the strip club where she actually ends up for a bit as Randy Cain. Injected by Sylvia with Girl Power, through various trials and a failure to be signed by Gary the talent scout she eventually reaches her TikTok destiny as Charity Shop Sue.

We are taken through a valuation of her body - her clitoris is worth 20p - and on the way there are blow-up dolls (her stripper colleagues, Stella and Diamond), body positivity, a girl band song about Toxic Shock Syndrome and Barbara the strip-club owner in a yellow pinny and a wig. The jokes about 90s ladette culture are absolutely spot-on and very funny. Randy's nipples have opinions about third-wave feminism, and the toxic shock syndrome awareness raising is exactly what it was like: toxic shock syndrome was what 90s girls expected to die of in the same way we were all prepared for nuclear war in the 80s. The video backdrop was very effective, with a disembodied head of Sylvia giving advice (with occasional cameos from Martine McCutcheon and Gillian McKeith).

Selina plays all the characters herself, and the transformation from Randy to Barbara to Gary and back again via wig or hat, and the interplay with the blow-up dolls, was great and had something of Tommy Cooper about it. Her performance was confident and experimental and when things went wrong it didn't detract from the humour or her control. A very funny show, she plays with the sexuality and politics and just day to day humour of stripping and all the observational humour is so accurate. I feel I want to crack open a Diamond White and turn on the Girlie Show. Well done Selina!

Susie Halksworth

IT'S NOT CLUEDO! - Chris Neville-Smith in association with Rotunda

Chris Neville-Smith invited us along to join in his game of 'It's Not Cluedo' in the Cheshire Cheese last night. The premise of the game is that we have one hour to solve a murder has been committed. Chris pointed out that, unlike other murder mysteries, the crime is solved not by a detective but by the suspects themselves, and one of the suspects IS the murderer, but does not know that until the very end!!

In Chris` version of the game, we the audience chose the details of our game.

Whereas the original Cluedo suspects had colours for their surnames, we chose Chris`s sheet 12 and hence a set of suspects with double-entrendres for their surnames.

The President Orange idea was therefore scuppered, but we did agree to give him a part - as the victim Donald T (so sad, so sad, greatly greatly missed).

The 6 suspects were Woody Rod, Mr Dingaling, Professor Fitwell, Miss Jugs, Dr Birdwatch, and Sid Package.

The murder had happened in a Public Library, the 9 locations were different sections of the library, the 6 murder weapons included a colonoscope, a golf club, a big bell with a knob, and a fork lift truck.

Accusations and denials flowed back and forth. Was the killer Woody Rod with the colonoscope in the Reference section? No. Was it Sid Package with the Fork Lift Truck in the Music section. No. We narrowed it down to 2 suspects. Was it Miss Jugs with the colonoscope in the Fiction section? No - she was innocent.

It was the turn Mr Dingaling (ably played by Sam Slide) to make the fateful accusation. The murderer was indeed Woody Rod (ably played by John Hobson) with a Giant copy of the Kama Sutra in the Fiction Section of the library.

This was an absolutely hilarious event with Chris encouraging a great amount of participation from his audience. Sam and I had tears in our eyes from laughing on numerous occasions. The show was a bit like Midsomer Murders meets I`m Sorry I Haven't a Clue meets the Carry On films at times. Absolutely surreal and a very enjoyable and memorable hour.

Chris, thanks for putting on the show and I`ll be there for it again if you come back next year.

Royce Alexander

ROB ROUSE & TOM WRIGGLESWORTH: THE UNLIKELY WEIGHTLIFTERS - Rob Rouse & Tom Wrigglesworth

We were witness to a live podcast by Rob Rouse and Tom Wrigglesworth which was not quite developed enough to be called a ‘work in progress’.

Rob and Tom had some pre-prepared ideas but not, apparently, a script. They riffed with the (full) audience and covered random subjects such as the TV programme, ‘Panorama’. Farm gates - of which there are two styles of closure: the spring, and the weighted rope; a sort of Apple v Android division. We also had a discussion of the social implications of macerator toilets which included mention of a caravan with a ‘pre-loved’ chemical toilet. If all this sounds random and a bit odd, then yes it was. But it was also very funny.

We finished the evening with a sing-along to the theme from Howard Way, a nautical soap opera from the 1980’s. The whole audience joined in and the music was enhanced by a ‘festival style. floating sheep (actually an inflated condom), a simulation of seagulls by the front row wearing white socks on their hands and a finale with large poppers firing off.

All a bit bonkers but a lot of fun.

Another performance, or should that be further development on 20th July.

Brian Kirman

RICHARD PULSFORD: YORKSHIRE DAD, IMMIGRANT MUM - Richard Pulsford

Richard Pulsford is an award winning comedian and a regular performer on the comedy circuit with his one-liners, puns and rapid-fire jokes. In short, he is a comedian who knows his trade. However, this isn’t what you get with this show. Instead, Richard explores his upbringing to determine what made him the person he is today; what were the relative contributions of nature versus nurture?

We learn about his parents and their role in his upbringing. His father was from Yorkshire and spent many years in the RAF. His mother was an ‘immigrant’ who was interned during the Second World War. This may sound rather ordinary but is far from it. Richard’s family experiences were varied and traumatic and the audience was captivated as he told his story in an affectionate, moving and sometimes humorous way. He uses family photos, audio recordings and film clips to bring these people, and his own early years, to life and is very open in describing his relationships with two very different people, finally arriving at a conclusion as to whether it was nature or nurture that made him.

If you want puns and one-liners then go to Richard’s other show that he is performing at the Fringe but if you want an interesting and moving story of one man’s family history, then catch it on July 15th at Underground at the Working Men’s Club.

Vernon McGarey

RICHARD PULSFORD: GOLD FASHIONED JOKES - Richard Pulsford

Heading rather tortuously for the Edinbugh Fringe via Buxton, the self-proclaimed 'Punball Wizard' from the 'Mirth of Forth' performed mental gynmastics worthy of an Olympian and verbal agility only rarely witnessed at a poetry slam.

Gold jokes. These were not the old fashioned jokes of 1970's TV-land, but gentle twists on modern themes - amongst them gender fluidity, nut allergies, allotments, Dolly Parton and viagra.

Gold medal. It was pun after pun after pun, leading to punchline after punchline after...you get the picture! The very best rapid-fire one-liner comedy: giggle after giggle after groan.

Gold standard. This was word play of the highest level, with some of the most carefully constructed joke set-ups I've heard for a long time.

Pun fun!

David Carlisle

Further performance: Wed 15th 19:00

FUNNY ONION - A STAND-UP PERFORMANCE POETRY SHOW - Beetroot Productions

If a man enters a crowded room dressed in an avocado suit and launches into a monologue about the fruit, which we later learn is actually a berry, then you know you are in for a very strange evening.

John Hobson describes himself as a ‘plant based poet’ and much of the show is fruit and veg related. We learn that putting a whole mango in a stew or curry (minus the peel, of course) is a great way to add flavouring. We have an explanation of why it is beneficial to peel an onion while wearing contact lenses – no tears - but be careful removing them if your hands have touched chillies. Herbs and Spices are not neglected, or should that be Spices and Herbs?

Moving on from plant-based poems John fantasises about owning a Routmaster Bus.. He would call it ‘Rebecca’, his Double Decker. The poems come thick and fast and include other subjects like baldness. There are a few rejects from his poetic work: if it doesn’t rhyme properly then it becomes prose. He has a prose collection too.

John’s delivery is fast and fluent and the full-house audience responded with enthusiasm and warmed quickly to his presentation, but then its hard not to like a man dressed as an avocado.

John has more performances than any other show in this category: in various locations (check the Fringe programme, you don’t want to miss this) on 15th, 16th,17th,19th 23th and 25th Jul.

Brian Kirman

LATE NIGHT DIRTY SCRABBLE - WITH ROB ROUSE & FRIENDS - Rob Rouse & Underground

So another great night of Dirty Scrabble at Underground Venues at the WMC.

It's a simple format, basically Scrabble played by a few performers, but the words spelt are dirty or just simply made up. It has the best line in the 2026 programme -'putting the dick into dictionary' - which sums it up nicely

Hosted by Fringe fave and very capable host Rob Rouse and with guests straight of the stage from Unleashed, the event saw Siobhán Healey joined on stage by Bron and Sean from Comedy Sports, except that apparently it wasn't Sean but his alter ego, Donald McGinty.

Rob did a great introduction asking why Underground had built a stage and the venue a bar when there was a fully functional stage upstairs already built with no one in it plus a bigger, better stocked bar.

We had in dictionary corner our resident Scrabble expert and the man to keep all the scores correct, Mr Chris Neville Smith. A great job he did too, making sure rules were followed and all words were dirty.

Rude words were spelled, some made up, and I learned that apparently US politician JD Vance has a thing for sofas...

All in all it was a very enjoyable way to spend a Monday night. Rob Rouse is always a lot of fun and Bron, Siobhan and Donald were great guests.

We finished the game with Bron putting some Jizz on the board - a perfect way to end the evening or indeed any evening.

Go and see this show - it's so much fun and you might even learn a few new words! There is one more Scrabble to enjoy which takes place on Monday 20th July at 10pm.

Robert Harrison

RACHEL CREEGER: QUEEN OF THE JEWS! - Rachel Creeger

Last year at Edinburgh Fringe, Rachel Creeger’s show, Ultimate Jewish Mother, was dramatically cancelled by her venue. In this new show she sets out to explore when it's paranoia, and when they're really out to get you.

Creeger opens by introducing herself and everything that makes up her identity - she has overcome various health issues, she’s neuro-diverse, she’s an Essex girl and her mum wishes she sounded posher. But it’s her religion that is the target of the supposed antisemitic insult that gives the show its title. She says ‘That’s a compliment!’, and it’s an early insight into her positive nature.

Though at pains to make the audience comfortable – her suggested signal to indicate discomfort may need work! - she asks volunteers to read out the three most common questions she is asked as a modern orthodox Jew. It’s a clever method to bring home the ugliness of the classic antisemitic tropes around money and control of the media.

Linking to the UK Terror Threat levels, Creeger moves though increasing levels of the overt antisemitism she has encountered from name-calling to violence. It is a saddening and maddening catalogue of shameful treatment, in which her show being cancelled does not come close to being the worst.

Creeger tries to defuse any tension by switching between racism and what might just be Rachel hatred. This allows her optimistic nature to shine through as she tries to find the best in every situation. Sadly, the amusing ‘Rachism’ doesn’t balance the racism. She’d prefer to give her attention to a gorgeous Great Dane over a racist any day, and don’t we wish she could.

This show isn’t a cavalcade of non-stop laughs, it is too personal and Creeger is simply too nice to be confrontational, so the laughter is of the wry and empathetic kind, though she does sneak in the some laugh-out-loud moments. It is a thoughtful show relentless in its enunciation of racism, but also full of warmth and indefatigability.

Stephen Walker

Further performance: Tue 14th 17:30

ACOMEDYTAPAS - Jesters

A real Fringe bargain, AComedyTapas offered the chance to hear 10 comics, many performing at Buxton in the next week or so, each on a mission to wow the audience in about five minutes flat!

Likeable compere Denzil de Cristo, also the founder of Den of Laughs, this year’s spectacular comedy hub at the Lee Wood Hotel, kicked things off with a warm welcome and some brilliant, sometimes dark one-liners; I particularly enjoyed: ‘Pepper Pig..’ (pause to encourage us to anticipate some nostalgic whimsy) …is my favourite recipe'.

Steve Blood taught us to look back in fascinated horror rather than nostalgia as he produced stills from 1980s’ ads, observing quite how many of them involved ‘ladies fallating chocolate bars’, the exception being Yorkie bars which were once marketed as ‘not for girls’ - ‘hairy-arsed lorry drivers’ being more the target audience as Blood pointed out. Comedy is very personal and no doubt I was the perfect demographic for his set but Blood really made me laugh out loud.

Lizzy Lenco arrived in a wheelchair to tell us how following a car accident she was 'not right in the head' and half blind, everything to the far right appearing to be 'baffling nonsense'. With her 'resting goth face', she delivered a really classy, deliciously edgy set that left us wanting more.

Mark Smith’s brief set referenced his celebrity lookalikes (from Susan Boyle to Nicola Sturgeon), the toxic gay dating scene (personally he 'likes to see men as a w/hole…'), Keir or is it Ikea Starmer, and particularly delightful, what Sooty, Sweep and Soo the panda are up to now that they are retired and living as a throuple in Brighton.

Busy parent of six, Sam Gee had a highly entertaining set speculating on why we don’t have more heckling in church ('Spoiler alert, the Romans got him!') and the infinitely relatable appeal of having a tiny bucket list but a huge 'f**ckit one'.

Distinctly head-turning was Wasp Man complaining how everyone liked bees because they were fluffy ('they're not fluffy like kittens', he grumbled) and how nobody wants you when you have compound eyes and mandibles. He might also have added his triggering habit of sounding exactly like an angry wasp about to sting us…

17-year-old Tom Williams is clearly a star in the making, part of the generation that 'got tortured in lockdown' and had to master learning via Zoom that nobody knew how to use. I like to think it's his fault that I was too busy laughing to write down his jokes and anecdotes, but trust me - he’s funny.

Ben Dali offered something truly different with his comic poetry and porno-geographical skill at reinterpreting maps. I will never look at Denmark without seeing it as the meatball scene from Lady and the Tramp. Meanwhile Panama became 'your mum’s fallopians'.

Welshman Stuart Thomas complained that his parents’ farm was overrun with ghost dogs because of the universal parental lie about what has happened to the family pet. Larger than life in more ways than one, he had some great material about the days of dial-up internet and how images were delivered glacially slowly, line by line: 'By the age of 15 I knew every porn star by their forehead'.

Next we were introduced to mould-breaking Slightly Psychic Cynthia with her fetish for puppets. Expect your life line to go through the money line as she conducts her dodgy palm reading in between calling up celebrities via séance: 'Elvis is that you?' Answer of course: 'Uh-huh-huh…'

Last up was Anthony Williams, 53 and living in a house share with 'lazy bastards', albeit his children. A pro with great timing, he shared relatable humour, at one point discussing people’s misapprehensions about his son’s autism condition: ‘Oh, is that the one where they take everything literally?’ Answer: ‘No, that’s kleptomania…’

In all this was a very successful event with something for everyone and a great indication of the fun still to come at the Lee Wood thanks to the Den of Laughs.

Stephanie Billen

STUART THOMAS: BAD FATTY (WIP) - Stuart Thomas

Stuart Thomas came to us from a South Wales valley via Premier Inn to make a stand for fatties everywhere. Bravo I say! The show is a window into the soul of an unashamed fatty and into the soul of a shameless society and there’s only one winner.

There’s more to Stuart than just fat. His love of all things Premier Inn Purple (he knows the code apparently) from the drapes to pens, lanyards and travel mugs – he has them all. One does have to wonder what his home looks like… But you know what you get with a Premier Inn don’t you?

Bad Fatty is in part about the impact of being fat, or not thin, can have on an individual and how expectations from parents to teachers and the world at large are often unthinkingly critical. This doesn't mean the show is a lecture, far from it. It is fun, energetic and entertaining. There are some glorious images invoked and life on an isolated valley farm has serious consequences up to and including choice of porn… Potatoes are a thing in Stuart’s life in oh so many ways, so much so that there is a group shout out at the end – and you get a badge!

Bad Fatty is a well-written, well-performed show which stands on it’s own. Billed as a WIP, it is perhaps time to take the training wheels off.

Ian Parker Heath

BAILEY'S ON ICE - Dawn Bailey

Bailey’s on Ice was more than just Dawn’s story of persistence in the face of adversity, it turned out to be more of a revue, with a little help from her friends. It was a bit of a surprise to me, but that’s because I missed the introduction as the show I was in downstairs overran.

Nevertheless, the show was a fast and furious affair with each of the artists taking the baton from their predecessor in admirable fashion. Supporting Ms Bailey were Lynda Knight, Helen Davis, Sean Payne and Kevey Bow and each had their own style and presence. We had tales from childhood to lost thongs, HRT, wiring plugs and more.

This was the first Fringe show this year where I’d heard so much laughter, and it wasn’t the quiet, gentle sort either. It was pretty much a full house in stitches most of the time. I particularly liked Kevey Bow and Sean Payne who’s genteel (Kevey) and shy (Sean) stage presence reigned the energy of the show in just a little before it was unleased again with the arrival of Dawn.

The show had something of everything, some familiar themes, one-liners, elaborate yarns and some surprises. The audience certainly enjoyed each and every one of the acts we saw and gave them a rousing round of applause at the end. I can imagine them returning next year with more!

Ian Parker Heath

AWKWARD RE-ENTRY - Phillip Carter

Philip Carter is here to explain why aliens don’t visit us anymore, but first he needs to persuade the audience that he is actually one of us, despite his enormous head and general hirsuteness necessitating protection from Sasquatch hunters in Oregon

The stated theme of the show may be to investigate the absence of Alien tourists, but the show also ranges across the three reasons for time travel, plus a long disquisition on how Mormon’s get around a ban on pre-marital sex (marriage seems easier if less inventive).

There is much promising material, and Carter seems an endlessly creative man, writing and publishing Sci-fi, but it needs to be kept focussed. He has an assistant on stage to work some sound effects, but they are overused, and disrupt the flow of the show. And this is a comedian who needs to avoid distraction. A break for audience interaction brought a Doctor Who reference which nearly derailed the show despite the thematic time travel link (members of my family would whole heartedly agree with Carter’s sentiments about self-contained stories and poor scripts, but like him, I digress unnecessarily).

The recorded material used during a loo break (!) is excellent and proves that there is real talent here if it can be channelled, but the brilliant thing about a friendly Fringe like Buxton is that it gives comics the opportunity to workshop their shows and get proper feedback from performing in front of a supportive audience. There is much potential in this show, and we look forward to its future iterations.

Stephen Walker

PATHOLOGICAL PENNY PINCHER - Anthony Williams

Comedy is personal, and what amuses one person doesn't necessarily amuse the next But there is one topic which we can all relate to - the pitfalls of practising the art of false economy!

In this one afternoon only fast moving hour Anthony Williams treated his audience to a mix of amusing tales about his own attempts to save money. From the perks of his first job at the Derbyshire based American Adventure Theme Park to online dating, a visit to Blackpool tower and a very dodgy holiday in Bulgaria the audience felt this man's pain (which was sometimes literal) and empathised with his efforts!

From the magnetism of the contents of the male creche (the baskets of goods down the middle of the aisles) in Aldi stores, to the temptations of Home Bargains, Anthony held the mirror up to us all as he recalled his inability to leave these stores without copious items in his trolley all of which he just never knew he needed. He particularly recalled the heart shaped bathroom mirror! As a species, our determination not to miss a bargain and the consequences of succumbing to them kept the audience entertained throughout the show.

Anthony Williams keeps your attention and your focus on his subject matter throughout with his clear, friendly manner - he relates well to his audience on all levels.

At the start of the show Anthony was ably supported by his son Tom who came across as far more mature than his 17 young years, with his confidence to debate with and very successfully amuse the audience. A chip off the old block - this young man has a bright future.

Julie Alexander

HAYLEY ELLIS: WORK IN PROGRESS - Hayley Ellis

To give some idea about Hayley and her performance, you'll have to imagine the fictional love-child of Peter Kay and Victoria Wood. Incisive observations delivered with panache and the odd f-word.

Machine-gun gagging set to rapid fire, cutting across indiscriminate subjects ranging from bizzarre family traditions to hypermobility through fame and cabbage soup dieting as a potential hangover cure!

Testing out new material for a sometime-soon possible future tour, Work in Progress examines the route to stardom for a girlband called VHS, comprising an 8-year-old Hayley as the H and similarly aged friends Victoria and Sarah.

Along the way is a pop star who can be trusted as a babysitter and one of Tutankhamun's lesser known curses, which results in frequently burnt toast!

Hayley doesn't just deliver puns, she sweats them out.

David Carlisle

SALLY-ANNE HAYWARD: OLDER. BOLDER. - FAB Comedy presents Sally-Anne Hayward

Sally-Anne Hayward has won several comedy awards, provided tour support for some famous names such as Sarah Millican, Russel Howard and Hal Cruttenden and co-hosted on BBC radios 'Tell Teresa'. This is a very good pedigree but it’s a hot sunny Sunday afternoon the day after carnival, not to mention England’s harrowing late night win against Norway, will people turn up?

Happily, it’s an almost full house and Sally-Anne is enthusiastic in her thanks to the crowd for turning out on such a hot day to see her. 'I know my place after taking a show to Edinburgh, only having two people in the audience at the start of my run' she tells us. 'Its much nicer to be here in Buxton it’s so pretty and friendly'. The crowd made up of at least 70% locals decide right away that they love her.

Sally-Anne has a very relaxed style and excellent timing, there is some audience participation, and avoiding the front row won’t save you.

But it’s very friendly stuff just a few questions about them to help Sally-Anne segue into a new topic, such as do they have children and if so, do they still have empathy for the older ones? She seems amazed when the answers are yes.

Over the next 60 minutes we have a whirlwind tour of her life, the benefits of being single and childless, regrets about investing in wine not a pension (Spoiler Alert - not many), uses for the cat flap after the cat dies, why chest freezers have that name, the horrors of addressing a nudist group and the advances in vibrators and why the old ones are much more authentic.

There’s lots of adult content in this show and all her jokes land well. Sally-Anne has the measure of her audience and there are lots of laugh out loud moments, some make you laugh and wince at the same time.

Lots of her jokes cover sex from a woman’s view point, these clearly chime with the women in the audience, as well as those poking fun at 50+ men, but there’s usually a tag line which gets a positive response from the men as well.

This was Sally-Annes only appearance at Buxton Fringe, but look out for her next year.

Carole Garner

WHY I DON'T TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT TERRORISM - Harun Musho’d

Harun Masho'd has proved himself adept at political comedy across two of his own shows plus A Political Brunch during this Fringe. He is a substantial figure with the gravitas to talk about terrorism and politics, but plenty of fine jokes to leaven the mix.

Harun gives seven reasons about why he doesn’t talk about terrorism, but really it's a device to hang tales that are related to terrorism, if occasionally a bit tangentially. The other over-arching theme is that of his family, and how it’s unconventional mix of Swiss, Sri Lankan and English, both Muslim and Catholic (and going back further generations you can throw other odds and sods into the mix, in fact some very odd sods indeed).

This diverse background has given him an openness to different cultures, and a Swiss sense of fair play (outside the banking system and FIFA). But he also has a fine grasp on the detail and history of politics illustrated perfectly in his tour de force about how everything from the privatisation of the public transport system to excess deaths through COVID via the Gulf War could be blamed on Camberwell bus station.

As he ranges across conspiracy theories, the long history of terrorism in this country (with a nod to Stewart Lee), and his brother’s appearance in Take a Break magazine, he is a confident performer in command of his material. His busy stint at the Fringe is complete for 2026, but hopefully he will be back with a new show next year.

Stephen Walker

BALTHAZAR DARK - DARK THYMES - Balthazar Dark

Balthazar Dark announces that he’s going to spend the set telling us things that might or might not be true. I immediately start to doubt the line saying ‘former professional wrestler’ in the show blurb. Rather than the baddie from Aladdin 2 that his name suggests, Balthazar Dark is a rather shambling persona – immediately undermined by admitting to Andrew from Wakefield.

His slightly sorry-for-himself demeanour makes the audience want to help him and they engage with his call and response work, and indulge his long and winding tales that lead nowhere. His one-liners go one of either two ways, they’re either a classic punchline to a joke, or they disappear off somewhere different altogether. You’re never quite sure where you are with him, and the element of surprise keeps the audience on their toes.

But the skill to having this kind of awkward onstage presence is to have a routine that is actually pin sharp to keep the audience onside, and this is still too much a work in progress to earn that.

That being said there is something at the heart of Dark’s work that is worthwhile. The absurdist stories and audience call and response that that go on just too long, and then go on a bit longer, tip over into something silly and incongruous. There is something reminiscent of Viz in his odd characters and stories. The giggling from an audience that probably couldn’t say what they were giggling at is a sign that there is something worth watching when the set is fully developed.

Stephen Walker

GOING COASTAL WITH DONALD MCGINTY - Sean Mason

Do you enjoy long-running, cosy, geography-based television shows? Are you keen on relentless punning? Perhaps you have a soft spot for seagulls or a sub-par Billy Connolly accent.

If so, get yourself down to the Underground Venues at the Working Men’s Club. Donald McGinty is the man for you. Admittedly, his cosy, geography-based television show has hit a couple of hitches lately, as indeed have the seagulls. But no matter, McGinty keeps on keeping on in the face of multiple challenges.

Sean Mason has created a show about a show that references a lot of other shows. It’s about as meta as it gets. It’s also very funny. There are nostalgic reference points aplenty to satisfy Gen Xers and Millennials. But it’s also bang up-to-date. There’s a loose narrative arc which doesn’t matter all that much and a very genuine message behind the whole thing (which does matter but which is never allowed to distract from the relentless punning). Donald McGinty himself is not remotely cosy but a tragi-comic anti-hero, cast in the long shadow of Basil Fawlty or Mr Bean, perhaps.

Not convinced yet? Come for the 1970s public information horrors, stay for the bad taste jokes about seals, regional accents and cremation. You have one more chance to meet Donald McGinty. Next Thursday, 16th July at the WMC.

Anna Girolami

AMIT MISTRY: LIFE IS A MISTRY (WIP) - Amit Mistry

Amit Mistry’s show contained material he knew well – his life – so often a source of inspiration for many comedians. What is it about their lives? Anyway, Amit comes from Manchester by way of Gujerat and Tanzania and quite a few points in between, providing him with a rich family and cultural heritage which he has delved into to give us this show.

He was born and raised in Manchester but the story of how his family came to be here provides him with the opportunity to introduce cultural differences in a gentle way, such as his parents getting married after meeting for just half an hour. Unimaginable in South Manchester, right? Nevertheless, it has been a success and Amit is grateful for it. There are a lot of cross-cultural misunderstandings and twists in the plot along the way.

The show moves gently through growing up, and schooling as a member of a minority has its comical moments. Now Amit is of an age where he now has child of his own and was he prepared for this? Not really.

Billed as a Work In Progress, Amit’s show is almost there. He is a personable and warm comedian with a nice take on life. Keep an eye on him as one to watch.

Ian Parker Heath

KEVIN HUDSON TALKS THE WALK - Kevin Hudson

Talking the Walk is Kevin Hudson’s humble travelogue from a novice walker but expert breakfast eater. If you’ve ever thought about or have even completed one of the long-distance footpaths this show is probably for you. The footpath in question is the Offa’s Dyke Path which in case you didn’t know wends its way along the Wales – England border for the most of it’s length.

Kevin was inspired to take the walk after a friend of his successfully completed the Pennine Way which is around 270 miles long. He wasn’t that inspired and chose what he thought seemed like a much shorter walk, hence the Offa’s Dyke route. Turns out it was longer than he imagined, but nevertheless he persevered with his choice.

Talking the Walk is an enjoyable ramble through Kevin’s first experience of long-distance walking, blisters, sock choice and all. We were introduced to characters he met along the way including B&B owners and their dogs, ladies of Monmouth and of course fellow walkers. All his breakfasts were rated and described in detail.

It all amounted to an enjoyable way to spend a part of Carnival Day away from the hustle and bustle in town. This was the only performance of this show at this year’s Fringe, but I wonder if there are more walks out there he’d like to share with us in the future?

Ian Parker Heath

ROCK N ROLAND WIP - Roland Gent

‘Rock ‘n Roland’ was an opportunity to catch up with Rowland Gent and get a flavour of a ‘stalwart of the northern stand-up circuit’ as part of the Den of Laughs weekend at the Lee Wood Hotel.

Rowland took the audience on a wander through his life and times, stopping off at among other places his childhood and the appearance of posh food such as yoghurt and muesli – not even in the same bowl I might add. Now, Rowland may or may not have a job as a journalist with a newspaper, but we were given some glimpses of life in the media, and which search terms to avoid on an internet search. All of which were enjoyed by the appreciative audience.

It was billed as a work in progress and there were a few rough edges in there. This was Rowland’s only appearance at this year’s Fringe, but you might find him out there at a certain newspaper based in Manchester.

Ian Parker Heath

THE PHEASANT, THE PEASANT AND THE PILGRIM - Fabulous Pheasant Theatre

A pheasant, a peasant and a pilgrim walk into a bar. But not before: running from a wild boar; fighting a mad king, and learning the true meaning of love.

The Pheasant, The Peasant and The Pilgrim, written and performed by the Fabulous Pheasant Theatre, is the kind of show that with every new scene, I simply couldn't guess what was going to happen next. With a Monty Python style host of characters and setting, an unlikely trio set out on a pilgrimage to help our lead find love before it is too late. But this is not a simple tale, it is a tale that requires singing songs, playing the ukulele and a fair amount of physical prowess.

Our Pilgrim, dressed in a very smart (but surely boiling) cream coat, teams up with the Pheasant (who has a party hat for a beak) and then later the Peasant (dressed in a sack and missing a wellington boot). Though an unlikely trio, their sheer determination to help each other and get to the bottom of the age-old question - what is love - is what drives them forward on their adventure.

Things descend into madness, as things only can when you've been transported to an unlikely land, and the various chase and fight scenes were as entertaining as they were exhausting to watch. I absolutely commend the energy that the group brought and kept up despite the heat of the day!

This was a bizarre and hilarious journey, full of twists and turns, amusing characters and briefly, a puppet show! The actors were not afraid to throw themselves around the room for the sake of realism, and with all the rolling on the floor, the Burbage Institute floorboards surely got a good polish.

As a late addition to the fringe schedule, this show was a one night exclusive, but I hope to see the troupe return in future, and I wish them further success with this new piece they've put together.

Amy Powell

HUMDINGER WORDS FOR LOLLYGAGGERS & FUDDY-DUDDIES - Ben Dali

Ben Dali is a stage hypnotist, teacher and neuro-spicy lover of words. He has a zest and zing for the playfulness of language and his passion to share it is clear as he takes his audience on a robustious, regularly rhyming romp through parts of his life.

There is a lot of material in this show and Ben whizzes the audience through childhood poems, shapes of countries, being mistaken for David Baddiel and tattoos amongst many other things. He sings, shares stories and works with determination to engage his attentive audience.

This show has a base around poems he wrote as a 7-year-old. He even has a gorgeous book of his childhood poetry to read from. We get to see the man the 7-year-old has become. He is funny and sweet, but the show felt like a teacher who had a hour and a half lesson plan and they were going to fit it all into 1 hour. As a result, some of the material is a bit hurried and needs more time to allow the audience to fully understand the wit and his dexterity with language. I loved his hypnotism and magic tricks, although they did seem like they were a part of another show.

Overall a fun show full of brilliant language and a warm and passionate performer.

Jayne Fanthorpe Walker

HELLO, GOOD BI - Kimia Etemadi

Kimia Etemadi unveiled her latest WIP at the Lee Wood Hotel. The Lee Wood is again hosting a lot of the Fringe comedy this year, in two different rooms. Kimia was in Canyons, downstairs from the main entrance.

Reviewing comedy is tricky. How does one give a flavour of the act without revealing all the jokes? Suffice to say that Kimia is a delight. She’s a scattergun comic rather than a drill-down-on-one-spot comic. Her attention wandered from the Iranian diaspora in Cheadle to the trouble with threesomes, via Roman Emperors, chemotherapy, Stratford-upon-Avon and many other points in between. All delivered with a charm and self-deprecation that often disguised the needle inside the cotton wool. I was irresistibly reminded of Sarah Milican at times.

She opened with about twenty minutes of established material before moving on to the work she was testing and for which she sometimes checked notes on her phone. She actually seemed more comfortable with the new material, which surprised me. It was perhaps that she had warmed up sufficiently by then that her slight nervousness had dissipated. There is no doubt that she drew energy from a very appreciative audience and got progressively more comfortable as the hour went on.

She has only one performance at this Fringe so we won’t be seeing her again this year. Should she return to Buxton, I would fully recommend that you go and see her. If nothing else, for the best joke about rotisserie chicken that I have ever heard!

Anna Girolami

A POLITICAL BRUNCH - Chris O'Neill & Harun Musho'd

A Political Brunch returns to the Fringe and is, as you might expect, a show that is very much what it says on the tin. It’s a show that takes place around brunch time and takes a range of general and current political issues and opens the door to the views of an assembled panel and the audience. This particular episode was chaired by Harun Musho’d who was ably assisted by a team of artistes including Barbara Fernandez and Steven Catling. Not everything was on the agenda and the exclusions were understandable.

There is of course a lot of audience participation, and with subjects such as an up-coming by-election in the news there were plenty of opportunities for humour to surface and get kicked around by the panel and audience. The monarchy, populism and voter turnout were just some of the targets and they were hit without fail. Even depending on your politics.

This was an interesting edition of the show, particularly as there were members of the audience and panel from overseas to give a wider perspective on our often baffling political times. Definitely more fun than Question Time. You can catch the show again today (12th) and next weekend (18 & 19th).

Ian Parker Heath

FRINGE FLAVOUR COMPILATION SHOW - Den of Laughs

Hosted by Den of Laughs and compared by Denzil de Cristo , this show cases offered 6 comedians with styles varying from anecdotal to odd ball, with some truly groan worthy puns from the de Cristo.

The first 3 performers - Amit Mistry, Thao Cao, and Kevin Hudson- provided a series of tight sets and some real laughs (and it's nice to see at least one woman in the line up). Mistry's band jokes, Thao's dog joke and Hudson's pub anecdote all had the audience chortling. A set by Jacob Nussey, a deadpan piece about working at a particular large warehouse based retailer was also well received - he did well at the previous fringe and it's easy to see why.

Roland Gent, while obviously an experienced and competent comedian, appeared a little on the back foot, stating he had very short notice of his set but like the experienced hand he is, was still able to get some laughs. The show finished with a set by Stephen Catling, relying on props and sound effects which would be well suited to a longer format but could benefit from some editing.

Names could have been given more clearly in the introductions as they were a little rushed and sometimes unclear but overall de Cristo did a great job of getting things going and keeping the pace. Highly recommended both as a stand alone but also really helpful to identify who you would like to hear more from.

Julie Eastdown

ENRICO TOUCHÉ: HOT KNEES - Serious Business Chocolate

An absurdist romp loosely based around business and ambition, Hot Knees is an hour long show which leaves you, as in your best dreams, never quite sure what is coming next - a talking mime, balloon animals and excepts from German opera, to name a few, with a surprisingly moving ending.

The hilarity built steadily through the show as the audience relaxed into the general strange silliness of proceedings, as Touche developed numerous scenes involving audience members in slapstick situations. This could go very wrong, but his concern to ensure that participants were comfortable, the fun of what was happening and the fact that jokes genuinely feel like they are with the audience, not on them, made the situation highly enjoyable for all.

Combined with the sweetness which shines through Touche's performance, the fun and games left people talking enthusiastically about the show afterwards. The only less than ideal on the date of this review was the size of the audience, which felt a very poor result for such a hard working performer. With a big, late night audience, this show would surely bring the house down. Having said that, the small size of this audience meant everyone joined in, and there was a real sense of camaraderie in the room. It felt like a great shame to go back to the real world at the end. Well worth the ticket price.

Julie Eastdown

ARE WE THE PROBLEM?! - The Problems

A lively trio of comedians known as The Problems gave a very warm welcome to their audience at the Lee Wood Hotel this evening. Ciaran Shea led the show with an interactive style of humour which encouraged audience participation involving the use of a box of table tennis balls!

Possessing the makings of a first class comedy compere, with his ability to engage with his audience and successfully take them along with him, those gathered quickly warmed to Ciaran's friendly and entertaining banter when his material involved tales of his own family life.

Ciaran introduced us to two fellow comedians, Lauren Buck and David Martin who individually took us through the ups and downs of their lives as they circumnavigated the trials and tribulations of relationships, pet ownership and being mis-understood.

All three comedians used strong language and adult themes for some of their material and they occasionally led us into vocabulary which wasn't totally familiar - but they made every effort along the way to entertain, engage and be warm and friendly with their delivery.

There are no further shows from The Problems for the Buxton Festival but they do intend to take part in Nottingham's Festival in November.

Julie Alexander

A HISTORY OF THE LAST CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT... - Harun Musho’d

The idea of a man reading out passages from the political memoirs of successive Conservative Prime Ministers might not sound like a lot of fun, but in Harun Masho'ds capable hands, this show is in turns infuriating (at the politicians, Masho'd is a pleasure throughout), informative (in his interpretations and context setting) and hilarious.

Masho'd is obviously a man of voracious intellect, and his selection of passages and excerpts is masterful in the way it exposes the foibles and short-comings of the people who ran the country for a significant amount of the recent past. Although the general thrust of the show does not leave the people in question covered in glory, Masho'd is quick to give credit where it is due, and his statement that people from all political parties have enjoyed the show is very believable.

As good as the show is, its even more impressive when Masho'd fields questions on the go, giving considered and interesting answers, while also being very funny (and arranging seating for late arrivals). He is clearly an experienced comedian, and you know from the start you are in good hands. If you get a chance, and like smart, political comedy, a Masho'd show is a great way to spend an hour or two.

Julie Eastdown

BARBARA FERNANDEZ: SINGING, SAGGING AND SHAGGING - Barbara Fernandez

Barbara Fernandez has lived quite a life. And in this confessional, unique show, she wants to share it with the audience … through the medium of comedy and of song.

Moving from USA to Paris in her 20s to perform as a cabaret singer, Barbara managed to remain living there – visa-less – by mean of a series of disastrous marriages. To call these relationships chaotic would be an understatement, but suffice it to say controlling mothers-in-law, trench digging, religious cults and honeymoons to less than romantic locations all play a part.

Barbara tells the story of these relationships with candid, straight-talking, self-deprecating humour, and illustrates this autobiographical tale by belting out pop and rock bangers (with the lyrics changed to reflect what happened to her). Occasionally some of the lyrics are lost due to the mechanics of singing them, but it’s a striking device, nonetheless, and Barbara has the vocal chops to deliver them.

Two-thirds of the way through the show, it changes tack as Barbara sits down to reveal the psychological reason for her volatile life-choices in a section that is affecting, honest and educational. It is as a coping mechanism for her condition that Barbara turned to stand-up, and there’s no doubt that there’s a rich vein of ‘stand-up as therapy’ here.

Barbara’s honesty and likeable personality carry this show a long way. If, as her closing song says, ‘Life is a cabaret’, Barbara is certainly making the most of the spotlight to get a lot off her chest, something which will, I’m sure, strike a chord with many in the audience.

Robbie Carnegie

STEPHEN CATLING: CLOWNFISH OUT OF WATER - Stephen Catling

After last year’s show with his (now sadly lost) slug mask, ‘Moving on … really really slowly’, Stephen Catling is back with a new mask, a great costume, and another metaphorical title. Ostensibly a look at how he operates with autism out in the world, it rather wonderfully allows us an insight into his intriguing mind.

Catling produces a surrealism that tracks the canyons of his own convoluted thought processes, all augmented with ingenious sound effects to cover a million things you never thought you’d think about, never mind find hilarious. There are complex build ups for jokes based on obscure film references, Noel Gallagher as a slug eating lettuce in a green room, more genres of burlesque than can possibly be good for you, including shark and lettuce, and a googly eyes joke that will have me chuckling and wincing for some time.

Perhaps all best summed up by his ad lib when someone arrived a bit late, 'context will not help you'.

Despite the oddness of the entire enterprise, Catling has an indefatigable charm that engenders warmth from the audience, and we all go along with him regardless of the silliness. But perhaps we should wipe the cream off our foreheads before we go home.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen something quite that surreal at the Buxton Fringe, perhaps not since the days of Mr Twonkey. Stephen Catling is taking his own path and following him with a sense of adventure will pay dividends. This was a one-off show, let’s hope he returns next year.

Stephen Walker

DEN OF FOOLS - FUNNY/PUNNY IMPROV PANEL SHOW - Den of Laughs

In a new addition to the comedy panel shows at the Fringe, Den invites three comedians performing at the Fringe to join him, the court jester, in the royal court (aka the Lee Wood Hotel) to entertain us with a mixture of improv games, pun-offs and stand-up.

Opening with the News at Den, and taking suggestions from the audience, newsreaders Ben Dali and Stephen Catling opened with potholes in Buxton, though it was unclear whether these were holes in the road or dens of drug-taking iniquity, and roving reporter Amit Mistry interviewed Den as the hole measuring local. Interrupted by breaking news from the audience about a worldwide fish finger shortage, Catling, always the one to take a surreal angle, riffed on fish’s failure to evolve fingers, a gag that re-emerged throughout.

Through other rounds, such as the quick fire ‘I didn’t expect to hear that’, or ‘Pundora’s Box’ and ‘Jester Minute’ where they got to showcase a little stand-up we got to enjoy Mistry’s charm and quick wit, and Dali’s clever word-play and poetry.

Our genial host, Den himself, kept the games flowing and a decent audience for carnival day in Buxton were royally entertained. A panel show is a great way to enjoy the range of comedy at the Fringe, and all four comedians have shows on at the Lee Wood or elsewhere during the Fringe.

Den of Laughs is on again on Sat 18th at 1:30pm.

Stephen Walker

JACOB NUSSEY: TABLE FOR ONE (WORK IN PROGRESS) - Jacob Nussey

Jacob Nussey confidently took to the broad stage in the Working Men's Club, facing rows of seats with lights dimmed as the performance started. This makes the audience focus on the sole performer but with him less able to see his audience reactions. However, he gently moved about the stage, enhancing what he was saying as well as looking out around the audience, thus keeping the audience engaged and focussed on him and what he was saying.

He had obviously taken stock of his audience as taking to the stage, realised it consisted of a wide range of ages and had noted where the various couples and solos were seated so could look in their direction when relevant to his material. The audience was responding well throughout and in all the right places, which would give him appropriate feedback.

I couldn't describe his performance in a few words as succinctly and accurately as in the Fringe listing that states 'deadpan style, sharp jokes, and ill-fated anecdotes with clever punchlines'.

Yes, his straight face would give way at times to a smile but he never lost it into laughing at his own jokes and that smile too was endearing for the audience to see that he was enjoying them being entertained. He did occasionally look at his prompt sheets, moving him further away from centre stage, but only very occasionally and I think he has moved on from the need for them. It was incredible how he had remembered all those well constructed words and phrases to keep a constant flow and the clever sequencing of the jokes, anecdotes, and punchlines which altered the pacing and concentration of the audience. In other words, well scripted.

Speaking to some of the audience as they dispersed from the young to very elderly all were enthusiastic about what they had experienced.

Next performance is at Underground Venues at the Working Men's Club 11 Jul 4pm to 4:45pm, well worth not missing so hurry up there as this venue is further than some from the town centre.

Carolyn Page

MENKLE BROTHERS (WIP) - Jake Breeze & Phill Sutton

This performance was split into two half hour sessions with Phill Sutton taking to the stage for the first half and Jake Breeze coming on for the second half.

Phill started by introducing the acts and was immediately well received by the group close to the stage in this small venue. He made good eye contact with his audience and soon had them at ease enjoying themselves.

His experiences as a swimming instructor was well received as the audience could relate to the situations encountered, humour with reality. He would refer occasionally to his notes/prompts as this was a Work In Progress performance, when moving on from one topic to another. He quickly picked up when one topic was not being particularly well received, curtailed it and and rapidly moved onto another regaining the audiences enthusiasm. He was not phased by any of the movement or comings and goings in the venue.

Jake introduced himself and swiftly moved on into his first topic, his fear of death and dying. This was sensitively handled but the audience quietened to this more sombre topic and was less able to revitalise their enthusiasm with topics he moved onto, which he seamlessly bridged well onto. Though he also referred frequently to his prompts to check he had covered all the amusing points he had intended to, and as with Phill was ever conscious of not wishing to go over or under his allotted time.

As this is a free performance and you are sitting outside drinking in the heat of the sun, why not come inside for a while and enjoy what these two have to offer?

Next performance Beer & Bean Café Bar 11 Jul 7:30pm to 8:45pm

Carolyn Page

DOM HUTCHINS: GOOD GODDERS - Dom Hutchins

Dom Hutchins is quite local to Buxton and a familiar face around the Fringe, who you may have seen do shorter sets previously. Last year he had to cancel his debut full length show due the loss of his father, but he is back this year with a show that is in part a tribute to his dad, Good Godders himself.

Dom has cerebral palsy and in the style of Chris McCausland, his condition is weaved in and out of his material, but it is not all there is to him. So, while there is plenty of material around his travails with the Department of Work and Pensions, and his likely fate at the hands of a future Reform government, we also learn about his proud Cornish father, and Dom’s unexpected turn as a Parish Councillor. And he seems such a pleasant and innocent soul that his more risque jokes will take you by surprise, which is all to the good.

Perhaps, we could have more of an intro to who Good Godders was early on, as Dom’s warmth and love for his father is the backbone of the show. Though that’s not to say it is ever maudlin, Dom is more than willing to have a chuckle at his father’s foibles, even if he has to admit his poetry wasn’t that bad.

Dom Hutchins is great company, and you can spend an evening with him on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th at 8:30pm at Underground in Spring Gardens.

Stephen Walker

KAT HIGGINS: IN MEMORY OF ME - Kat Higgins

Kat Higgins is an attention seeker and she wants this show to be all about herself, the trouble is, it’s hard to be the centre of the attention when you’re the middle girl in a family of boys, and to make it worse her brother is an angel. Literally so.

Kat grew up somewhere in the middle of Ireland and her material leans into her small town Irish background. The classic Catholicism rituals of first communion and confession are worked well, but it is her attempts to be noticed amongst her feral brothers that really stand out. Satire is cleverly woven in with the family stories, as double standards abound and a feminist stand is attempted but backfires. New wave feminism is too much like hard work, and sometimes it’s easier to run with the pack.

She handles an audience that is a generation older than her with charm, and deals with interruptions with ease, even if she has to slip into an excellent Northern Irish accent for threats.

When her show takes its well-signalled darker turn it does so fearlessly and with piercing humour and honesty. It shows a deep emotional intelligence and is surprisingly, and delightfully, life-affirming. An unexpected feel-good hit.

This is Kat’s debut show and it couldn’t be more assured, there’s no work in progress fumbling over notes here, this is an accomplished, hilarious and very witty hour of stand-up. And anyone who gets a Blindboy Boatclub deep cut on their pre-show playlist is well worth your time.

Stephen Walker

WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU FUNNIER - Thao Cao

As the name of this stand-up set might suggest, Thao Cao has had her fair share of near death experiences. Three to be exact. And she shares them with us at the Beer and Bean Cafe Bar in Buxton. The venue itself has a rustic feel, and a vibe I would usually have described as cosy, but unfortunately bordered on sweltering after a day of extreme summer heat. But this didn't stop Cao, or her audience who gathered around small tables to watch her onstage.

Throughout the forty-five minute run time, Cao jumped through many topics: her early career experience in age care; the struggles of travelling from Vietnam to Australia at a young age; and her aversion for badly named Thai restaurants. There were more than a few serious and sobering stories told, a few scattered in to genuinely educate the audience, but each one was followed with a typical Cao one-liner, to lighten the mood once more.

The highlight of the evening for me was the demonstration Cao treated us to, of what she learnt after three years doing a Bachelor of Arts in Australia and racking up 20,000 dollars in student debt, a piece of physical comedy that got funnier the longer it went on.

One of two shows that Thao Cao is performing at this year's fringe, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Funnier, gets into the grittier details of racism, the risk with pronouncing Vietnamese words wrong, and the benefits of being able to cook a hard boiled egg - with a few riskier jokes and punch lines just for good measure. Catch the last performance of this set on Saturday the 11th at 9pm, there is a suggested donation and no need for a ticket, just grab a drink at the bar and get comfortable.

Amy Powell

BARREL OF LAUGHS - Underground

The format of this show allows us to enjoy and reflect on the differing styles of delivery of four different comedians in one place.

We started with Ben Dali who produced a poem/story of his experiences as a primary school teacher. He was low key in his delivery and expected an effort from the audience, as he started what he called a ‘picture’ poem based on ‘schoolboy errors’; 'Columbus circumcised the world', 'Jonah ate a whale' and 'Eve gave birth to an apple'. It was a light and amusing opening to the evening.

Next there was Dom Hutchins who jokes about his Cerebral Palsy relentlessly. He described being assessed for state benefit and the assessor having accepted that he hadn’t been ‘putting it on’ for 40 years and left him saying, 'See you in ten years.' Don speculated on the possibilities ten years hence; one of which would be that if there was a Reform government he would probably be put down. Dom also had several jokes featuring his condition which were edgy and blue.

After the break we had to adapt to the more aggressive presentation style of newcomer Kat Higgins, an Irish woman who took no prisoners. When she was in a threatening mood her accent turned to Northern Irish; which we agreed sounded more intimidating (we had to). Kat took us through familiar ground of family peculiarities and regional differences (North is always best; except perhaps for Korea), and took on men in the audience who proclaimed themselves ‘feminist’.

Finally we had Jacob Nussey who had successful shows at the fringe last year. He reminisced about his time working at Amazon with dead pan presentation. His style is unassuming and laid back not seeming to bother too much if the audience was with him (we were).

All in all an interesting and enjoyable mash-up of styles.

There are more barrels of laughs to come on subsequent Fridays with different performers.

Brian Kirman

ANDREW WHITE: WHAT A LIFE - Andrew White

At the ripe old age of 26, Andrew White offers some fine advice on living, dying and writing tart emails to council jobsworths.

Death comes in threes his mother used to say rather alarmingly to the very young Andrew. So this comic hour revolved around the deaths of his mother, his grandfather and his good friend Gareth. Each was treated with the love and respect you’d expect, but also with a hearty dash of humour. We all know that there is a lot of comedy to be had from death and dying. And from what I learnt about his mother, I don’t think she would mind at all. She had a great sense of humour, but couldn’t tell a joke to save her life. There then followed some painful joke telling. No-one laughed. Well we weren’t quite sure where the joke ended or even if it was a joke. True to form Andrew’s mother, dying of terminal cancer, insisted on having a ‘living’ wake before she died. A riotous affair by all accounts and a great idea.

There were various leitmotivs throughout this sometimes painfully honest re-telling of his life, one was of his still ongoing friendships with 60-year-old men starting when he was a teenager. Not THOSE kind of friendships he insisted, but genuine ones. He really is an old head on young shoulders. One of those enduring friends is a jester, appearing at all those important life occasions, joking, juggling and jumping onto stilts. Exactly what you need at a wake.

Sadly (or happily) Phil The Celebrant booked to preside over his grandfather’s funeral did not fall into the category of being a 60-year-old friend. What the hell does a celebrant do? There followed some musings including the caveat #notallcelebrantsarecrap before Andrew revealed a surprising twist leading to some very funny audience interaction.

Woven into this narrative was of course life as a gay man, happily supported by his family and friends. There was a lovely and moving ending to the show around this which I won’t spoil here.

There was a lot to like and laugh at in this show along with some brilliant props. At times, it did feel slightly under-rehearsed but there is still one show to go and all that will be ironed out I’m sure. It’s on again on Friday 10th, Underground at the Working Men’s Club 5.30.

Moira Kean

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? - Jan Brennan - Toffee-Nosed Theatre

Jan Brennan returns to the Buxton Fringe after an absence of four years with her one-woman show, assisted by her inept work-experience technician.

The scene is a Scottish hotel and we are welcomed by the Scottish chef who is employed to cook only haggis, which he is clearly not happy about! But wait, all is not what it seems as the Scottish chef is, in fact, a Michelin starred French chef, who happens to be related to several famous French musical entertainers. The audience is treated to an intriguing and convoluted story about Chef Bertrand’s complicated relationship with his French girlfriend and how he has ended up in the Scottish Highlands on the run from the police and the French mafia. Amazingly, it has a happy ending!

Jan ensured that the audience were involved throughout the performance from the very start and in a variety of ways that none of us could have imagined when we arrived. Initial trepidation was quickly overcome and everyone had their part to play. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a game of boules accompanied by an accordion?

This is character-clowning at it’s finest. Jan readily connects with her audience with warmth and humour and keeps the chuckles going throughout the performance. Hopefully it will not be another four years before Jan returns to entertain us all again.

The show is on again on Sunday 12th July.

Vernon McGarey

NINA GILLIGAN: LEMON CAKE - FAB Comedy presents Nina Gilligan

There was a time not long ago when female comedians made their mark not only by being funny but by using forthright and explicit language previously reserved to males. Jo Brand and Sarah Millican come to mind. The initial shock value got them noticed and their talent took over from there. In a similar vein we now have Nina Gilligan who doesn’t self-sensor her language and is also very funny.

Nina’s publicity looks like routine ‘observational’ comedy but there is a lot more here. She quickly establishes a rapport with the audience and keeps everyone onside in her musings which range from, animal print frocks, (peri) menopause, empty nests and replacement activities after children have left home: obsessive hobbies for example. “Who here owns a glue gun?” she asked pointedly. There is discussion of her move to Hebden Bridge (which apparently has more lesbians per square foot than anywhere in Europe). She doesn’t like measuring lesbians by square foot and comments they are just wearing sensible shoes. She covers a lot of ground.

One of her interesting areas was about leaving kids to get on with their own lives. Don’t go to the same festivals, let them have their space, and neuro-divergence issues are for them not the over 40’s. We had revealing input from the audience about ‘the talk’ they had when their kids were leaving home.

An excellent show, the only disappointment was that we didn’t get any lemon cake.

Nina has no further performances at the fringe this year; hopefully she will return.

Brian Kirman

SECRET DIARY OF A BINGO CALL GIRL 2: THE BALLS ARE BACK IN TOWN - Angela Bra

Angela Bra is back! The comedy drag queen is a regular performer at Buxton Fringe and elsewhere and after a warm welcome, a disappointingly small audience were treated to a polished performance and a memorable evening of gags (who doesn’t love a pun?), interspersed with self-penned songs about cooking and Hen Dos, and bingo.

Angela is an engaging and likeable personality who performs regularly at works events and Hen Dos and this is evident as the real strength of her performance is the ease with which she quickly develops a rapport with the audience who rapidly overcome their reservations to become willing participants in her show. Many comedians try to involve the audience in some way and sometimes this can feel a little forced but Angela takes the audience with her, making them feel included and comfortable as they join in the songs and willingly throw off their inhibitions and play the games. Buff Butler anyone?

And the bingo? Just an excuse for Angela to get two ‘lucky’ winners on to the stage to be the lead characters in Angela’s final, whacky game, which also involved the rest of the audience.

Audience satisfaction - 100%, a smile on your face - yup, whacky - definitely!

Angela is appearing again on Sunday July 12th and tickets are selling fast.

Vernon McGarey

BOUND & GAGS - Thao Cao

Strolling into Buxton by way of Vietnam and then Austrialia, Thao feels bound by certain conventions. Then she rips them up into tiny pieces right in front of her audience: Asian women have to do this, no they don't and she explains why not, my Parents have very low expectations, well, I'm still a disappointment to them because...you get the picture!

It is refreshing for someone to examine their life choices in such a publicly direct, but gentle way, with laughter - they are the gags of the show's title.

Quirky in her delivery and engaging right from the off, Thao makes her live comedy so much more interesting than any pimple-popping reels, silly cat shorts or viral video vlogs.

Live comedy is edge-of-the-toilet seat stuff - real observation that starts with an "ohhh", something that's different and provides a step-by-step examination of an emotional journey that sometimes hurts in all the delicate places.

Her live comedy is real life; support it and enjoy it.

Further performances Thu 9th, Fri 10th.

David Carlisle

Reg. Charity 1202904 © Buxton Fringe 2026

• 
• 
• 
•