Presented by Mary Tobin Presents
Reviewed 18th February 2020
Best of the Edinburgh Fest brings to the Adelaide Fringe a handpicked trio of comedians from the previous year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the biggest arts festival in the world, and places them together to demonstrate the current talent appearing within UK comedians.
Most shows at the Fringe are only an hour long for one performer to include their personalised stories, arcs and other messages they wish to sneak in. So having three stand-up acts within the one hour compresses the process to the highlights. In this case it is three performers selected to represent the best of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (held in August each year).
Ian Smith, Maisie Adam, and Markus Birdman are an incredible and hilarious representation of the Edinburgh Festival. The differences within their comedy styles gave a variety of taste in UK comedy.
Smith kicked off the show with an observational and interactive style set, referring back to daily life with his fiancé as a broad guide. He bounced off the commentary from the crowd well, especially considering it was a chilly Tuesday night crowd. His drier approach allowed for humour that neatly used the awkward pauses.
Adam’s set was the tightest script of the three in this show. It was high energy and wittily incorporated personal embarrassing stories, such as generational house party mishaps, as the base of the stories. The strong delivery of the punch lines and the humanising aspects of the stories provided for sharp humour while following a traditional style of a stand up script.
Birdman rounded off the night. He presented as the more experienced performer, comfortably moving between planned work and interacting with the audience with potentially delicate questions. He introduced generational-based commentary as an interesting reference point for the more taboo topics.
The mix of all three comedians was a wonderful exhibition of stand ups. The variety in styles and approached to humour touched on all bases for the audience, within condensed twenty minute sets. The idea behind the Best of the Edinburgh Fest is a fantastic concept that caters for groups that can’t settle on one style of comedy they want to see in one show.
Best of the Edinburgh Fest runs at multiple different times and on many dates throughout the Adelaide 2020 Fringe Festival, providing plenty of times to get in on some of the UK’s finest comedians presented within the one show.
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Twitter: @AlexDunkin
Rating out of 5: 4
Venue: Studio 7, The Garden of
Unearthly Delights, Adelaide
Season: 14th February – 15th
March 2020
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets: $26.00-$35.00
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/best-of-the-edinburgh-fest-af2020
www.adelaidefringe.com.au
https://www.gardenofunearthlydelights.com.au/
https://marytobinpresents.com.au/
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