Reviews of shows performed 22-23 August 2026 at the Edinburgh Fringe, including top-class improvised comedy, a veteran of the Fringe doing what he does best once again, and a seriously underrated gag machine.
Chelsea Birkby: Is In Full Control The Entire Time
Bunker Three at Pleasance Courtyard
Chelsea Birkby poses the theory: can she shake off the all smiles, nice girl image and push her very gentle teasing further? She attempts to bring out her Machiavellian side with a feistier alter ego, CheChe, though this quickly seems to revert to her entirely affable side. Very occasional stronger swearing and sexual references struggle to get the desired response, whereas her regular brand of gags consistently play well in the room, which maybe proves her point.
PowerPoint is in use throughout the show, which touches on subjects of self-help gurus, the eccentricities of her parents, and a found questionnaire her mother had once filled in to half-heartedly better herself. Not exactly new ground for a comedian, but I'd have perhaps liked to see her go deeper on these having introduced them. Similarly, some insights from her online platforms' analytics of what people – and especially men – are searching for when they arrive on a female comedian's page; Chelsea Birkby could excel at an experiment on this. You'd have confidence in her ability to bring out more humour in any of these subjects. It feels like we've only scratching the surface of what she's capable of. ★★★☆☆
Kiell Smith-Bynoe's Kool Story Bro
Grand at Pleasance Courtyard
For three nights only, this improv troupe, among them the now SNL UK star Emma Sidi, are in Edinburgh to fill out the 750-seater Grand room at the Pleasance.
There's no games or gimmicks you might have seen in other improv shows. Audience members are asked for their best stories – you get the show's title now – which are playfully re-enacted by the performers. A story involving a snake gave Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Stath Lets Flats, Taskmaster) the perfect opportunity to bring out a Samuel L Jackson impression on Saturday night. But every show promises to be completely different so who knows what you'll get, though at least have confidence that if you're nervous of improv, you'll be in safe hands here. ★★★★☆
See Kiell Smith-Bynoe's Kool Story Bro at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, October 10 & 11
Rob Auton: JUPITER
Central at Assembly Roxy
Rob Auton imagines visiting planet Jupiter to work as an estate agent, selling the merits of moving to Earth. For anyone unfamiliar with this veteran of the Fringe, it's less whimsical and more quietly profound than that conceit may sound. For anyone who is familiar with his work, this may be the archetypal Rob Auton show. On the surface, a down-to-earth Yorkshireman, but once you're in his world you find he has his mind in the stars, with a sense of wonder that could sit somewhere between Professor Brian Cox and Philomena Cunk.
His observations on the everyday of British life and language range from the minutiae of supermarket shopping to the existentialism of how statistically unlikely it is we're here doing these things at the same time. And his joke writing has only got better over time. Leave in a life-affirming mood. ★★★★★
See Rob Auton: JUPITER at Soho Theatre, May 17-29 2027
Ed Night: We'll Be Alright, Darling
Monkey Barrel 1 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
This might be the perfect example of where the industry machine isn't working. Maybe this type of comic isn't in vogue, without a show telling a certain story or touching on a hot topic. I've not seen many of his posters around Edinburgh, and didn't receive any emails pitching to come and review. There isn't a big TV credit I'm aware of to his name. But if there is a higher gag rate at the Fringe, I'd like to see it.
As he acknowledges himself, he's performing a set geared towards late night in a pre-theatre time-slot, which might attract some punters who won't appreciate his style of cutting, occasionally dark, humour. If they were there in the Monkey Barrel 1 crowd on this late Sunday afternoon, their potential awkward silence was certainly made up for by an otherwise most appreciative crowd which Ed Night is highly accomplished at working. ★★★★★
See Ed Night at Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield, October 1
