Urooj Ashfaq, Soho Theatre review - assured UK debut by Mumbai stand-up

Divorce, dating and teenage diaries

It's takes a confident comic performing only her second show in English – her second language – to joke near the top of the hour: “I didn't know I wasn't as funny in English.” Urooj Ashfaq also told us she would get upset if the audience didn't like her – but she shouldn't worry. Her confidence proved to be justified.

Dave Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2022

DAVE EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARDS 2022 Australian and American stand-ups leave the Fringe victorious

Australian and American stand-ups leave the Fringe victorious

The Dave Edinburgh Awards went abroad this year – Australian Sam Campbell won for best show at the Fringe, while American Lara Ricote won best newcomer.

Edinburgh Fringe 2022 review: The Stones

★★★★ THE STONES A slow-burn gothic horror plays with our sense of reality to intelligently creepy effect

A slow-burn gothic horror plays with our sense of reality to intelligently creepy effect

In many ways, The Stones is what the Fringe is all about: a new theatre company (London-based Signal House); a single actor; a small black-box space; just a chair, a bit of smoke and some almost imperceptible lighting changes for a staging. And with those modest ingredients, it generates a work that’s really quite unnerving in its quiet power, and magpie-like in its references.

Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Ode to Joy / Wilf

ODE TO JOY / WILF Two plays by Scottish writer James Ley set out to shock, provoke

Two plays by Scottish writer James Ley set out to shock, provoke – and provide belly laughs too

Ode to Joy (How Gordon Got to Go to the Nasty Pig Party), Summerhall

Counting and Cracking, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - ambitious, powerful, but sadly under-attended

★★★★★ COUNTING AND CRACKING, EIF 2022 Ambitious, powerful, but sadly under-attended

A multi-layered, multi-generational theatrical epic is one of this year's stand-out offerings

First, a bit of housekeeping. Maybe it was the three-and-a-half-hour duration, or maybe the unfamiliar Sri Lankan subject matter, or maybe even the very un-festival-like hot weather that put people off an evening inside Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre. Or maybe (very possibly) continuing Covid concerns.

Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Temping / Work.txt

Two performer-less shows on the theme of work set the audience to - well, work

Temping, Assembly George Square Studios

Sarah Jane is away in Hawaii. But don’t worry – she’s left plenty of instructions for your day temping in the actuaries’ office, checking voicemails, answering emails, updating spreadsheets. After all, it’s just numbers – it’s not like you’ll be dealing with people’s lives or anything.