Edinburgh Fringe, Thursday 14th August 2025: Elf Lyons, Kieran Hodgson, Adam Riches and John Kearns as Ball & Boe.

These were the shows I booked as soon as the programme was launched. I'll explain why below.

Our drive to Edinburgh was slightly strained as we'd left later than I'd hoped. The sat nav had us arriving at 7pm instead of closer to 6.30, so I was fretting over finding a street parking space. My wife kept nagging me about my speed and the likelihood of getting caught by the omnipresent traffic cops. Everything went fine, despite the traffic rerouting, until the sat nav was unaware that the Cowgate was closed to traffic. Cue an unexpected 180 at the roundabout, and a near collision as my eyes studied the screen map, failing to notice until the last second that the Audi in front had stopped at the pedestrian crossing. Fortunately, the only crunch was of my brakes and tyres. 

I navigated to a street parking spot on the south side near Just the Tonic. We had plenty of time before our first show, so we had drinks in the cafe beside the Pleasance Dome, remembering to use the facilities before joining the queue. Breath!    

Elf Lyons: "Raven" (2 x £15) 20.00 at the King Dome Pleasance Dome

I originally had tickets for this show at The Stand, Glasgow, when it toured, but I caught Covid and had to ask for a refund (for Jordan Brookes, too, it turned out). Billed as a Horror show, I expected creepy clown vibes, with Elf patrolling the audience, providing jump scares and invading personal space. 

It's not that at all. It's a scream, but the kind of scream from a hysterical person who's just experienced a horrific trauma. And I don't mean seeing a ghost.  

Elf talks us through her childhood, using her ickle voice, reminding us she's nine when she thinks we're perving at her libidinous movements. She was educated at home; her mother showed her horror films; she devoured Stephen King books. When she stayed with an uncle, they always watched The Thirty-Nine Steps, until one day he put on Kevin Bacon's The Hollow Man, about a scientist who turned himself invisible, went mad, and attacked women. Then her nightmares about monsters really began.

At ten, she was sent to boarding school. During the holidays, if she wasn't going home to her parents, she'd be alone in her dorm. The lights along the long corridor to the bathroom worked on sensors, but didn't always register her presence. The long walk terrified her. Especially the night when she discovered a male stranger standing at the other end with no one around to save her.

She acts out the show in five scenes. For the final one, she lays herself bare, physically and emotionally, destroying fruit to the pounding beat of The Prodigy's Firestarter, spotlights blasting, screaming her revelation at us. The front row needs a splash guard tarpaulin as she sprays them with tomatoes, chewed banana, and smashes up a watermelon, both with a mallet and her fists. Powerful stuff.

She sings her epilogue, the words too painful to speak. Raw, emotional and brave. Whether it's theatre or comedy is irrelevant. It's art, born out of trauma, and quite an experience. Wow!  

(Star spotting one: Stuart Goldsmith, of the Comedian's Comedian podcast, was sitting in the front row of this show.)

Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America (2 x £18) 21.30 Beyond at Pleasance Courtyard

Elf's show committed a cardinal Fringe sin: it overran, so we had less than fifteen minutes, instead of thirty, to get from the Pleasance Dome to the Pleasance Courtyard to attend Kieran Hogson's new show. The audience had already gone in by the time we arrived, but we managed to find aisle seats in the side seating area. 

This show is about his big break in Hollywood, starring as 'Sandwich Man' in the DC superhero movie, The Flash. His big scene (and only scene) is at the opening of the film. After one day, his agent, Sabrina, calls to say the producers are not happy with his performance.  They don't believe in his authenticity as an American. And so starts much soul searching about what it means to be an American, delving into Kieran's childhood, his schooldays, and later developing his talents as an actor, who's especially good at impressions and accents. What is an American voice? 

The show's storytelling has a gentle humour, and it's well-written and performed. The theme: America has always been about power, despite the historical rhetoric. The subtext is painted large at the end as one character takes over the show, dominating proceedings. You can probably guess who. 

We shuffle out to the strains of American Idiot by Green Day. 

The only things that niggled me were the noise chatter from the courtyard bleeding through the wall behind us - it occasionally distracted me from the narrative - and the seating angle became uncomfortable, making it difficult to sit straight to view the performance.   

(Star spotting two: I spot Hal Cruttenden in the Courtyard chatting with some fans after his show)

Adam Riches and John Kearns are Ball & Boe (2 x £21) 23.00 Grand at Pleasance Courtyard

It takes longer than expected to exit Kieran's show, so again, we have less time than planned to race around the corner to the Pleasance Grand for this performance.  We end up at the back of the queue, the staff diverting attendees behind us to the second entrance. I'm stressed out of my box, thinking we're going to end up stuck at the back or worse, the backside. Arse!

After having had our QR codes scanned, we're given a token to hand back upon entry. We make our way after a short wait and hear the strains of Michael Buble's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), followed by Winter Wonderland. This show was initially staged at the Soho Theatre last Christmas, so I guessed they hadn't updated the setting. 

There are empty seats near the front at the side, so I claim them, then spot two aisle seats close by in the middle. I curse myself for taking the first ones available, then sigh with relief as I discover they were already being kept for someone. The large lady beside me shifts over one seat. I try not to take it personally.

The likes of David O'Doherty and Nish Kumar (sporting a massive backpack, not at all looking like a suicide bomber) pass us, heading up to the back. There might have been other, less well-known celebs I didn't recognise (Celya AB?), because this show has a buzz about it. Three Nights Only - this is a Fringe Event!

It would be fitting to describe it as This is the Greatest Show, as not only is that the opening number, John Kearns (as Alfie Boe) appearing from the wings and Adam Riches (as Michael Ball) starting at the top of the stairs at the back of the room, both belting out the Hugh Jackman classic, it's also repeated a number of times to increasing comic effect.

I had tears of laughter running down my face during the show. It is so funny! The performances are exquisite, suitably cheesy for Ball and morosely straight for Boe. The twinkle in their eyes during the repartee almost brings them to corpse, but they both remain committed to their parts, playing it straight within character, making it all the more funny. 

It's not just them singing. There is a plot of sorts - this is the warm-up to a planned tour, but Michael's agent has agreed to a sponsorship deal that conflicts with Boe's intended tour theme. Will their double act survive in light of these revelations, especially as the new script cuts the new, original song that Boe has written (much humour is derived from the fact that they only sing covers)? 

I can't recommend this highly enough. If you managed to get a ticket to this show (it's long sold out), you are in for the night of your life. It truly is the Greatest Show!   

Don't phone the police:
I photographed this poster in the Pleasance Dome's Gents' toilet.