Edinburgh Fringe Picks 2014: Comedy

I can hardly believe it's nearly Festival time already, but August is just a couple of weeks away and soon the madness will descend again. I've tried to be organised this year and pick out as many things I want to see as possible, so I thought I may as well turn this into a mini series of blog posts to share my picks with you too. If you're heading to the Fringe, hopefully this will give you some ideas (but don't blame me if some of them are rubbish, obviously I haven't seen any of them yet!). Let's kick things off with some comedy.

The Axis of Awesome: Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas - Gilded Balloon, 9pm
I would looovveeee to see Flight of the Conchords at the Fringe, but failing that Axis of Awesome are also pretty great. This Australian comedy music trio certainly know how to write a good pop parody song and their shows are always full of original tunes that will make you laugh. I saw them a couple of years ago and loved the show (which included probably their most famous song, 4 Chords), and this year they're back with lots of new songs.

Dan Clark: Me, My Selfie and I - Pleasance Dome, 8.20pm
I used to be a huge fan of How Not To Live Your Life, but had entirely forgotten about its existence until I spotted Dan Clark whilst scrolling through the Fringe website. I think I'll have to give it a rewatch to remind myself of Dan's quirky style of humour before heading along to see this.

One Man Breaking Bad - The Famous Spiegeltent, 7pm
If you know me at all, you'll know Breaking Bad is my favourite. So a 60-minute comedy version of this in the form of Miles Allen's One Man Breaking Bad sounds right up my street. This is definitely top of this year's must-watch list for me.

Frankenstein: UnBolted - Just the Tonic at The Caves, 7.25pm
A couple of years ago I saw potentially my favourite ever Fringe show (high praise indeed), Last Chance Saloon's Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom. It was a tiny show with three actors playing all the parts in one of my favourite stories, Dracula, but with plenty of comedy and musical numbers to the tune of Lady Gaga and Copacabana. AMAZING. I was very excited to see that they're back this year with another gothic tale, Frankenstein: UnBolted which is filled with "grotesquely twisted pop songs, an assortment of ridiculous characters and a nod to the golden age of classic British comedy".

BJ Novak: One More Thing - Assembly George Square Studios, 9.10pm
Now, the idea of a spoken word dramatic reading wouldn't normally be top of my to-do list, but when it's BJ Novak doing the reading I'm sure I can make an exception. Best known as Ryan from The Office, Novak's Fringe show this year is a series of comedy stories taken from his new book, One More Thing.

Miranda Sings - Venue150 @ EICC, 6.30pm
If you're an avid Youtube watcher, you'll have probably already heard of Miranda Sings. Now Youtube and real life collide in Miranda's bizarre and hilarious stand up show which combines comedy, hit songs, magic tricks and dramatic readings of hate mail. Fun.

Thünderbards: Seconds - Pleasance Courtyard, 4.45pm
I know absolutely nothing about Thünderbards, but the description of their time travelling sketch show made me think of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which in turn makes me think that this show might also be excellent. Party on, dudes.

More Fun Stuff
Paul Foot: Hovercraft Symphony in Gammon # Major · Chris Ramsey: The Most Dangerous Man On Saturday Morning Television · Winter Is Coming · The Room · Simon Amstell Tour Previews · Frisky and Mannish: Just Too Much · Boxman

What's on your Fringe list this year? Keep your eyes peeled for my music and theatre picks soon!

Gillian x