Tuesday 13th July

The Edinburgh Preview Season

Henry Paker

Henry Paker’s 3D Bugle

Hold onto your skin because Henry Paker is about to hit you with his first hour of crucial stand-up featuring odds and sods, whimsy and some mild posturing.

"An hour in his company is a hilarious and uncomfortable joy. He has charm and awkwardness in abundance" The Guardian

"I laughed for the whole sixty minutes. I think he is a minor comedy genius - FIVE STARS"  Tim Arthur, Time Out

Daniel Rigby

Afterbirth

At the age of nineteen Daniel Rigby was converted to Christianity. After being stood up by Jesus every Sunday for two years he dumped him. This is the post natal confession of a lapsed Born-Again. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and getteth understanding." Proverbs 3:13

“Brilliant..the sort of find that makes you glad you made the trip up” Telegraph ****

“Witty, inventive, creative” **** three weeks Guardian Pick of the Festival 2009

Wednesday 14th July                                                                                        

Carl Donnelley

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Carl Donnelly?

Never one to keep his tongue in his cheek for long, last year’s Edinburgh Award Best Newcomer nominee Carl Donnelly returns with a show about his rising ‘fame’, how suddenly he has found himself in a strange limbo of no longer being anonymous, but being far from famous. Recently married (which always gives a comic masses of material), Carl has noticed a considerable lack of confidence in anything other than comedy…

'Best Newcomer' Nominee at the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards (Formerly the Perriers)

“In Donnelly's hands, something as simple as getting out of bed can be the springboard to a hilarious anecdote” The Guardian

“..a hell of a lot of innocent fun..” Chortle.co.uk

Edward Aczel

Ever Tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better.

A brand new show for 2010. Aczel outlines a few brittle thoughts on ambition, failure and why he would’ve preferred to be an ambassador (or, in theory a rock star). Inspired by Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, this gentle piece of entertainment features SWOT analysis, repetition and silence. (“Repetition is a form of change” Brian Eno.)

“One of the most entertaining oddities in years” Metro

“Britain’s greatest entertainer. The future of comedy” Time Out

“One of the top fifty must-see shows of the year” The Times

Thursday 15th July

Doc Brown

Unfamous

Being human, we all have a desire to be special. To leave our mark on the world, to have people remember one thing above all else: You da man. Or woman. Do women say that? Hey, Louise! You da woman! In an age of instant celebrity, how far would you go to be remembered? And what’s so special about human beings anyway? Witness a lifetime of extremes as Doc recalls the remarkable events that for him should have spelt infamy. But only spelt unfamy.

A special preview of his brand new Edinburgh show UNFAMOUS

‘Looks as if he was born on stage…with an irresistibly amiable demeanour that gives him an effortlessly charismatic aura – he could yet be the Bill Bailey or Tim Minchin of rap.’ Chortle

Friday 16th July

Paul Foot

Ash In The Attic

Paul sweeps the loft conversion of his mind for comedy lampshades, bronze slapstick geese and Persian golf balls. Directed by Noel Fielding

"Choice silliness which no other comic could deliver anywhere near as effectively" - Time Out Magazine

"Multiple daftness...delivered with inspiring pedantry and passion" - paramountcomedy.co.uk

"Rarely, if ever, has this reviewer seen an audience laugh as hysterically or long" - The Scotsman

Abandonman

Pic ‘N’ Mixtape

This year’s winners of the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year and Musical Comedy Awards. Rob Broderick and multi-instrumentalist James Hancox are Abandoman, who make their Edinburgh Festival debut this year. Hilarious musical sketches are created at lightning speed live in front of their audience. No two gigs are ever the same. They re-invent hip hop in a way that appeals to even its most ardent detractors.

“Flight of the Conchords meets 8 Mile” “Nothing short of genius.” – Chortle

“Note-perfect, lyrically mind-blowing hip-hop improv.  Genius!” The Stage

‘Improvisational near-genius” – Such Small Portions

“A star of the future!” Time Out

Saturday 17th July

Felix Dexter

Multiple Personalities in Order

Fresh from much critical acclaim for his characters and performance on BBC2’s ‘Bellamy’s People’, former Time Out Comedian of the Year winner, Felix Dexter returns to Edinburgh with his new stand-up show ‘Multiple Personalities in Order’.

Felix has performed in a maximum security prison, been threatened with violence for lacking religious conviction and been offered free sexual favours in the street. These stories and more are full of contradictions, which provide a backdrop for his characters and this year’s show.

“Flight of the Conchords meets 8 Mile” “Nothing short of genius.” – Chortle

“Excellent explosive and exhilarating performer” The Observer

‘Improvisational near-genius” – Such Small Portions

“A star of the future!” Time Out

Tony Law

Mr Tony's Brainporium

Tony Law will be airing his new show 'Mr Tony's Brainporium' here in Machynlleth. Its about nothing yet everything. Imagine a person, in the style of stand up, talking nonsense and yet sense. If you like your comedy irreverent, silly, surrealish, sciencey with a bit of history with out it making much sense until you get home., and then maybe the next day only? then come. Think jamming jazz treat without the music.

“hugely entertaining” TimeOut

“to see Tony Law is to inhale deep breaths of comedy oxygen” The Herald

“a top-notch comic who marries a powerful delivery with some deceptively ingenious material” Chortle

“his surreal sense of humour rattles and pings around the room just as it must when it fizzes into existence somewhere in the darkest reaches of his mind” Edinburgh Evening News