Rating

every year hundreds of comics head North of the Border in the hope of fame and glory....

& every year we preview the best shows so that you can catch them before they
transfer into the West End at ridiculous prices!

We take care to recreate the real atmosphere and experience of an Edinburgh show...
* no audience
* hardly any pay for the acts
* great fun!

Tuesday 03 Jun Paul Chowdhry * Jim Jeffries *

Paul Chowdhry

Paul Chowdhry has distinguished himself over the past few years as one of the most talented and popular Asian comedians alive. He is one of the few comics with the ability and diversity to effortlessly straddle the urban and main stand-up circuits as an international headline act. Constantly challenging and relentlessly inventive, his highly charged dry observational humour taps into the multicultural diversity of contemporary Britain.

"Quickfire style. Chowdhry keeps up a steady stream of gags and left-field links that fuel what is a unique perspective of observations on British life, leaving the audience wanting more." The Stage 15/8/07

**** "Chowdhry's humour is profound and clever, outlining ignorance in a society obsessed with rectitude and sharing with us his own experiences with racism. One of the more honest stand-ups I've seen at this year's Fringe."Three Weeks 8/07

Jim Jeffries - Hammered

Jim succeeds with jokes that most comedians wouldn't touch.

With an ability to both charm and offend the crowd in equal measure, he is regarded as one of comedy’s fastest rising young stars.

His brash confrontational style has made him one of the most sought after comics on the world stage.

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Scottish BAFTA nominated TV magicians Barry and Stuart make their long-awaited fringe debut with a spectacle of bizarre magic and comedy.

It’s a rare chance to see the stars of Channel4’s Dirty Tricks, and Tricks from the Bible live on stage presenting their dark and outrageous illusions.

This astonishing show features razor-blade eating, psycho-hypnosis mind tricks, paranoia inducing amazement and dancing pirates.

"The most consistently original, creative and exciting force in British magic." Derren Brown

“her punchlines on such esoteric topics as Elizabeth I are funny and distinctive, and she can deliver a sharp one-liner when needed” Chortle.co.uk

“Young comedian Helen Keen impressed… with her ready wit with hecklers” Dominic Maxwell, The Times

“So original and struck up a great rapport with the audience” Richmond and Twickenham Times

She was a regular writer and performer on BBC Radio 1's late-night comedy show 'The Milk Run'. Helen has also written for the last two series of BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Now Show’ and various Channel 4 TV shows including ‘The Friday Night Project’.

James Sherwood is an award-winning stand-up comedian and comedy writer. He is known for his musical and topical material.

His latest one-man show 'Songs of Music' starts previewing in mid-June 2008 before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe in August.

'Savage satire' - Sunday Times

'Fantastic' - Time Out

'Piercing' - Evening Standard

'Sharp, precise and ingenious.' - Chortle.co.uk

of 'James Sherwood's Somewhat Premature Review of 2007':

'End-of-the-year news reviews come aplenty around Christmas time in these media-saturated times, so James Sherwood has made a smart move by getting in there before the Beeb, Channel 4 et al can run their usual collections of talking-heads and video clips.

Two parts misanthrope, one part buffoon, Sherwood is the perfect guide to the year so far, interspersing his stand-up bits on Prince Harry and terrorism with music and sets of quick one-line jokes about a variety of news stories.

Most impressive is the fact this show remains enormous fun throughout, despite the depressing nature of the year's news - so don't let that 'topical' tag deter you. Anyone who can make a song about inflation and unemployment funny is surely worthy of your attention.'
**** - ThreeWeeks

'If you ever wondered what would happen if Bill Bailey and Marcus Brigstocke had a child, here is the result.

James Sherwood's persona is that of an old-school BBC presenter, with his middle class accent, tuxedo and masterful use of the English language.

He is a talented musician and his piece grammatically correcting songs is worth the ticket price alone.

His premise is appealing, too: that he is hosting a New Year's Eve show, and although we can't see any of the other partygoers, or the cameras, they are definitely there. It makes him seem slightly bonkers but sets the scene beautifully for his Somewhat Premature Review of the year.

The first third of the show really flies. The finale, and the New Year's Eve pick-up song is well worth the wait: it is clever, funny and will have fans singing along.'
Chortle.co.uk

Totally new show for 2008 - attacking society’s obsession with winning, and vitriol towards failure. Though it’ll be much funnier than that sounds. Fast, Intelligent, Original. Critics love him. He’s won proper comedy awards too. ""Genius" List, "Brilliant" Scotsman, "Exhilirating comedy" ***** Chortle. BOOK EARLY. HE’LL SELL OUT.

Sadly, not as good a cook as any of them.. Funnier though. Although you judge that. You might even get something to eat…

“His razor-sharp intolerance skewers all the targets that come into his sights. … devastatingly acidic wit.” – Chortle

“An expert storyteller with split-second comic timing. Both acidic and disarmingly sweet, he has an immaculate turn of phrase.”

“A polished raconteur… Neill’s schtick is punctuated with classic lines” - Metro

“Not just funny but on the nose. Neill is the epitome of intelligent middle-class camp. Close your eyes and you get julian clary crossed with kenneth williams. Open them and you have sergeant bilko.”

“Delightfully tasteless … Neill is as camp as a branch of Millett’s, but much funnier.”

PHIL NICHOL - 8 NIGHTS ONLY

This year multi award winner Phil presents a back to basics stand up show. No theme, no story, no band, nothing fancy, just jokes and funny songs. “Exhilarating, incredibly funny and clever.” ***** The Scotsman

Jason John Whitehead burst onto the stand-up circuit in 1998, hailed by the press as one to watch. In his most personal show yet, Jason John Whitehead finds out if he's lived up to expectations and looks back at the choices he's made to become not just a joker, but a successful, full-time joker.