Tom Wrigglesworth - Nightmare Dream Wedding

Following up his much praised show last year, Tom returns to Edinburgh with another journey into his life over the last year and specifically about how his dream wedding went all wrong.  Despite his bizarre appearance (yes, he looks like Sideshow Bob but sounds nowhere near as menacing as Kelsey Grammer), Tom comes across as a hugely friendly and likeable guy with a great knack for telling one very long story with a range of humorous sub-sets whilst never boring an audience.  Without revealing any real details about the story, we are introduced to several interesting characters in a handful of interesting locations and now with the added benefit of video footage!  Was is it as perfect as last year's show that earned him a nominated for Chortle's Best Show award?  Not quite, but it is very strong perfectly paced with one very memorable gag he was forced into telling (to someone who found out he was a comedian).  8 out of 10 (4 stars) and Tom was quickly established himself as a sure-thing in the world of Edinburgh.

Adam Riches - Rides!

Last year Chortle garnished Adam Riches show with 5 stars and the quote "Quite simply the best sketch show I have ever seen".  What's more surprising is that statement wasn't from founder Steve Bennett, yet he let that get published under his valued name.  What did I think of his show last year?  Brilliant.  Quite simply the best character sketch show I have ever seen.  So we move on from Alpha Males to his 2010 offering, Rides!  The show starts right were we left of with Pierce Brosnan (rather than Daniel Day Lewis) and we are off for a wild ride of mayhem, silliness, extravagance, and riotous laughing.  Take the pure enjoyment of We Are Klang, mix it with the bold stage presence of Brian Blessed and whip it all up with a butch male cheerleader and you have a truly great show.  As always there is a lot of audience 'interaction' and Adam has the ability to suck you into feeling overly-confident where he re-asserts his dominance of the stage without fully breaking character.  The writing, pacing and imagination of his performance is faultless.  Surely this year he can't be ignored at the top awards again?  9 out of 10 and my first 5 stars meaning I'm going to pester people to go and see it!  If Adam doesn't return to Edinburgh next year a little part of me will die inside - he's that good.