Our Top Ten Picks of Week 2 at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019!
The Fringe is well underway now as we approach the end of the second week, so here are our Top Ten we’ve seen this week! Check back here next Friday for week 3!
Garrett Millerick- Smile
Just The Tonic at The Tron - 17:00
Our one and only resident MC! But we are not biased, we promise. Check out this 5 star review he just received! The critically acclaimed, Breakthrough Act 2019 Award nominee returns with a defiant battle cry against the gloom – Smile. Critics Choice: The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The iPaper, The Metro, Chortle.co.uk and Time Out. ‘Wickedly funny’ **** (Scotsman). ‘This brave and winning hour certainly pulls no punches’ **** (Times). ‘A big hitting stand-up set’ (Guardian). ‘A virtuoso display of unforgivingly grumpy stand-up delivered with fire in his soul’ ****½ (Chortle.co.uk). ‘Fast becoming one of the best there is’ (ManchesterWire.co.uk). **** (Sunday Times). **** (Mirror). You can catch him at our monthly mixed bill night, The Good Friday Show and our fortnightly new material night, The 2Northdown Mic Check.
2. Sara Barron: Enemies Closer
Pleasance Courtyard - Upstairs 20:30
2018 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee, Sara returns to the Fringe following her five-star debut hour and two sell-out runs at London's Soho Theatre. Her stunning new show examines kindness, meanness, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, current husbands, all four of her remaining friends, and two of her twelve enemies. 'An excellent line in cynicism about sex, life and friendship' (Evening Standard). 'Darkly humorous... smart... acerbic... endearingly charming' (Bust). 'Filthy and fearless' **** (Telegraph). 'A raucous, unapologetic hour with big laughs' ***** (Skinny). ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). ***** (FunnyWomen.com). ***** (TheWeeReview.com). You can catch her at 2Northdown every month at "Sara Barron & Friends” where she hosts a night with her very funny and very talented BFFs.
3. Goodbear: Dougal
Pleasance Dome- Queen Dome 21:40
Critically acclaimed sketch duo Goodbear are back! Join Henry Perryment and Joe Barnes for their biggest show yet. Featuring Goodbear's trademark combination of hilarious characters, extraordinary physical comedy and an original score, expect a show that is 'very funny' (Telegraph), 'excellent' (Guardian), 'exceptional' (AYoungerTheatre.com), 'hilarious' (EdFestMag.com), 'incredible' (List), 'magnetic' (Skinny) and 'side-splittingly funny' (ThreeWeeks). That is, if everything goes to plan... **** (Telegraph). ***** (AYoungerTheatre.com). ***** (EdFestMag.com). **** (Chortle.co.uk). **** (List). **** (Skinny). **** (VoiceMag.uk). **** (WeeReview). **** (EdfringeReview.com). **** (ThreeWeeks).
4. Sean Morley: Soon I Will Be Dead and My Bones Will Be Free to Wreak Havoc Upon the Earth Once More
Heroes @ The Hive- Bunka 15:20
Inside my skin is a rattling beast and when I breathe my last it will emerge. Free me from the enemy within. This is a show about fear, self-acceptance and bones. ‘A feast for any comedy lover who has a taste for the strange and absurd’ **** (Skinny). ‘The genius and confidence of Kitson and with the poetic linguistics of Dylan Moran. There’s something very special about Sean Morley’ ****1/2 (ShortCom.co.uk).
5. Jordan Brookes: I’ve Got Nothing
Pleasance Courtyard- Beneath 21:30
A new hour from Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee 2017 & Chortle Comedian's Comedian Award winner 2018. No tricks. No gimmicks. No plan. Just an hour in my company as we reach the end. Things will be over soon. We're nearly there everyone! Great work. But before we go, I'm making one last attempt to find connection in the here and now, to snuffle out any remaining joy in this rapidly crumbling world, before it's too late. 'Majestic and challenging' ***** (List). 'Impressively brutal and self-lacerating physical comedy' ***** (Skinny). 'Digressive, deeply unsettling and very funny' **** (Guardian). We had Jordan in a week before the Fringe, doing his preview with Berk’s Nest.
6. Tarot
Pleasance Courtyard- The Attic 22:45
Yet another great show from our friends Berk’s Nest! The twisted minds of Gein's Family Giftshop ('Brilliant' (Reece Shearsmith)) and sweaty bodies of Goose ('Brilliant' (Guardian)) combine to bring you something brand new: Tarot. In the attic of a cobbled Edinburgh courtyard, a live tarot reading is held. Sketches spin out of the cards and, as the show nears midnight, the significance of the reading as a whole begins to come into focus. Come to have your faith restored in a dying art. Sketch, not Tarot. An interactive, fast-paced sketch show inspired by and based on a love of tarot reading. What will the cards hold for you?
7. Laura Davis: Better Dead Than a Coward
Heroes @ Bob’s Blundabus- Top Deck 21:10
Dark, bold and razor sharp, Australian comedian Laura Davis is internationally critically acclaimed as one of the most unique comedic voices around. Unconventional, cathartic and exhilaratingly hilarious, this is her brand new hour. 'A different kind of provocative... smart, challenging, ambitious, playful and funny' (Chortle.co.uk). 'An hour with Laura Davis leaves you uplifted, somewhat bewildered, and utterly amazed by such blistering talent' (Time Out).
8. Nick Helm: Phoenix From The Flames
Pleasance Dome- Queen Dome 17:40
Holy f*ck! After six years away from Edinburgh and ahead of his national tour, Helm is back at the f*cking Fringe with a full Edinburgh run of his new show to remind the world what they’ve been missing out on. Resurrected from the ashes, come and witness two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee and international-treasure-in-waiting shaking his ass, singing songs and righting wrongs. You don’t deserve this... 'The man is brutal, but by AC/DC he's talented with it' ***** (TheLatest.co.uk). ‘Pretty f*cking amazing. A true comedy daredevil’ **** (Time Out). You can also see him in his musical horror Nick Helm’s I Thinks You Stink featuring our wonderful 2019 New Act Comp winner Katie Pritchard!
9. Adam Hess: My Grandad Has a Fringe
Pleasance Courtyard- Upstairs 19:15
The star of Tonight at the Palladium (ITV), Stand Up Central (Comedy Central) and Live from the BBC is back with, without doubt, his funniest show yet. Expect a lot of good stand-up comedy and also a story about getting stuck in a lift for 25 hours. Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee. 'For high quality gags per minute there is no better comedian on the Fringe' **** (Independent). 'A breathless race through some of the Fringe's strongest punchlines' **** (Skinny).
10. Ahir Shah- Dots
Monkey Barrel 3 18:15
We were lucky enough to have Ahir at 2Northdown previewing Dots as part of the Comedy Grotto All-Dayer back in July. Nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2017 and 2018, Ahir Shah returns to the Fringe with a new hour of funny and good stand-up. Shah's most recent show, Duffer, was performed to packed houses and critical acclaim at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, followed by a sold-out run in London's West End, and a UK and international tour. Now he's written another one. Fingers crossed, eh? As seen on Live at the Apollo and The Mash Report. 'A blazing talent firing on all cylinders' ***** (Telegraph). 'Magnificent' ***** (List). **** (Times).
He has sold out all but three days of his run, so if you want to catch him, then buy tickets literally right now.
