Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Rob Auton / Saaniya Abbas

A motivational speaker's tale; one woman’s vision of Hell

Rob Auton, Assembly Roxy  

The stage is littered with 30-odd large white cards bearing words such as “love”, “believe” and “push”. Rob Auton comes on stage and tells us he’s CAN, a former motivational speaker, and in the following 60 minutes of CAN (An Hour-Long Story) we hear his tale.

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Alison Spittle / Christopher Macarthur-Boyd

A weighty debate; and observations about this and that

Alison Spittle, Monkey Barrel ★★★

Alison Spittle is fat, she tells us at the top of the show. But not as fat as she used to be. And that’s the premise of BIG, in which she describes why she has been overweight since she was eight years old and what led to the recent weight loss – “about an XL Bully’s-worth”.

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Rhys Darby / Alex Stringer

A fantastical journey into the age of AI, and one woman's search for sobriety

Rhys Darby, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★

Rhys Darby, the New Zealand actor and comic best known as Murray Hewitt in Flight of the Conchords, is back at the Fringe after nearly a decade away with The Legend Returns.

Eddie Pepitone, Special review - return of the curmudgeon

New Yorker finds much to rail against

There aren’t many comics like Eddie Pepitone any more – the veteran comic’s shtick harks to back an earlier age, pre-suitable for TV and Netflix specials. As the New Yorker says drily in his latest special, The Collapse, he was never going to be considered as a host of either a reality programme full of beautiful people or a smarmy late-night chat show.

Summer Laugh review - five comics gear up for the Fringe

SUMMER LAUGH Five comics gear up for the Fringe

Terrific initiative by Scottish stand-ups

Appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe has long been an expensive gig for comics. But while stand-ups may need only a microphone to ply their wares at the world’s biggest arts festival, the costs they have to bear – among them venue charges, accommodation and marketing – don’t come cheap, and are growing year on year. Many people attending the Fringe are unaware of its financial eco-system – but the majority of performers there are self-funding.

Kieran Hodgson, Soho Theatre review - a love affair soured by Trump

★★★ KIERAN HODGSON, SOHO THEATRE A love affair soured by Trump

Can America be great again for the comic?

Kieran Hodgson is known to television viewers from Two Doors Down and to online fans for his spoofs of TV dramas; but comedy fans know him best for his high-concept stand-up shows, which draw heavily on his personal life.

And so Voice of America, his latest live offering, follows in the same vein, charting as it does his lifelong love affair with America, formed years before he actually set foot in the 50 states.

Dara Ó Briain, Soho Theatre Walthamstow review - master storyteller spins a family yarn

★★★★★ DARA O BRIAIN, SOHO THEATRE WALTHAMSTOW Master storyteller spins family yarn

Search for his birth father takes a few turns

Dara Ó Briain’s  has described his previous show So… Where Were We? – in which he describes his search for his birth mother who gave him up for adoption when he was a baby – as his Philomena, while his latest, Re: Creation, is his version of Elf, in which a grown man travels across the world to find his birth father.

Mr Swallow: Show Pony, Richmond Theatre review - magic tricks and mayhem

★★★★ MR SWALLOW: SHOW PONY, RICHMOND THEATRE Nick Mohammed gives his creation's origin story

Nick Mohammed gives his creation's origin story

Nick Mohammed invented his Mr Swallow character – camp, lisping, with an inflated ego and the mistaken belief that he has creative talent – more than a decade ago, but he reached a new audience with his appearance as the good guy-goes-bad-then-good-again Nate in the lovely television comedy Ted Lasso.