Laugh Out London’s Tom Meek shares his diary of the Edinburgh Fringe 2014

Theatre On A Long Thin Wire

The Edinburgh Fringe isn’t all about comedy you know. There’s other things too. Like feeling a bit sad. Or walking. Or some of that theatre stuff today. Bit was it good? There’s only one way to find out – by reading the words below this sentence.

Leaving Home Party, Summerhall, 1.15pm

One woman’s story about leaving Ireland for the pure dead brilliance of Glasgow then the much nicer Edinburgh. It’s a familiar story of feeling out of place and out of time but Catherine Ireton’s voice (this is story is sung rather than told) lifts it above the cliche it might have become.

Theatre On A Long Thin Wire, Summerhall, 4.30pm

This is what the Edinburgh Fringe is about. Being locked in an attic room with 10 strangers (and Ruby Wax – here as an audience member) and a mobile phone sitting on a chair. The phone goes off and someone answers. The story plays out. That’s all I’ll say.

Massive Dad, Pleasance Courtyard, 6pm

Massive Dad are massive fun. This sketch trio bring a fresh vitality to the genre, using the persona of a Balkan comedy group on a world tour as a framework for a series of situations and characters that feel familiar but inhabit an etherworld of silliness.

Shitfaced Shakespeare, Underbelly Bristo Square, 10.20pm

A theatre group try to perform a Shakespeare play. But – oh oh – one of them is drunk. Very drunk. It’s exactly what it is advertised as. If that sounds fun, you should probably go along. If it doesn’t, then you probably shouldn’t.