“It certainly does pay tribute to Richard Herring’s comic abilities that the audience was able to leave the theatre feeling strangely uplifted, especially when considering the show’s subject matter.” Did that sentence hurt your eyes? Welcome to the reviewing world of Robert McGowan Stuart, a chap who never writes more than 120 words, 100 of […]
Rory Morgan doesn’t do a bad job of reviewing. He says what he sees and sums up his impressions in a solid, workmanlike manner. He makes good use of his publication’s word limit, and doesn’t waste too much space going off on vapid tangents. It’s a shame then that Morgan relies so heavily on professional […]
If your show doesn’t get Priyanka Raval into transports of hyperbolic ecstasy then you’re doing something very, very wrong indeed. Of one show she says “The performances were excellent, it was impeccably well structured” and “every line was mind-blowingly brilliant”. Of another, “Despite being a university group, their brilliance equals, if not exceeds that of […]
Victoria Beardwood is very good. In fact, so good is she that I scoured every single one of her reviews looking for something to moan about and I pretty much came up empty. They’re concise, enthusiastic, witty without being condescending, and they fit perfectly into the Three Weeks slug format. If there’s one little quibble […]
Oh for fuck’s fucking sake. Shiv Das gives five stars to almost everything. While it’s all well and good to enjoy your job, a good review doesn’t mean that the reviewer can just cut and paste the PR spiel, or excuse themselves from the niceties of critical analysis, punctuation and grammar. I’m sure no act […]
In her review of The Little Wheel Sketch Show, Roberta Thomson complains that it was loud, aggressive and over the top. Later on in her 120-word review she adds that it was loud, over the top and aggressive. And if you’re not convinced, she concludes that it was confusing, mildly offensive and painful on the […]
When Polly Davidson says that “At least [Tony Law] is definitely funny”, she pays him scant credit. This is the only thing she is certain of in the entire review, and even then she keeps it until the end. His comedy is “all over the place”, she reports, wielding critical insight with all the dextrous […]
The thing I like about Lizzie Milton’s reviews is that she doesn’t try to write like a reviewer, or rather, like what the average Three Weeks critic THINKS a reviewer might write like. Milton writes the way your friend might talk when coming out of a show. Well, depending on what your friends are like. […]
Mairi McNicol is careful to wrap her reviewer’s cosh in velvet. “If this sounds like your sort of thing,” she says of something she didn’t like very much, “then prepare to be mesmerised!” another act, who is “overly-anecdotal” and “somewhat alienating” nonetheless “could easily be considered the thinking-person’s Sarah Millican.” Mairi seems to be on […]
“It’s a confusing thing, when someone you want to like tells you he’s a serial adulterer” says Kyung of Will Mars, seeming to commit the cardinal sin of letting pre-held scruples usurp his judgment. It’s forgivable, though, as Kyung’s reviewing style is for the most part well-reasoned and very clear. He’s even willing to give […]
It’s hard to dislike Kayleigh Head’s reviews. They’re full of life and energy, and, you know… yoof. She seems to enjoy reviewing, and this shines through in her prose. She may occasionally get over-enthused and say something confusing. Catherine Semark, apparently, talks about “our international obsession with drawing the cock and balls symbol”. I think […]
Lauren Stephen moved to Edinburgh to work in the Lush soap shop. When the Fringe came around, Three Weeks let her go and review Rob Delaney. She said that he was “completely obsessed with sex” and talked of nothing but “toilet humour”. She gave him two stars and went back to work where, at least, […]
“Serene, easy-going… delightful in a mellow, ticklish way… Delicate and exceptionally dry, occasionally reaching a curious threshold somewhere between amusement and bemusement”. Is this Jilly Goolden describing a Chilean merlot? No, it’s Andrew Pollard giving a critique of Norman Lovett. You can’t accuse Pollard of being insufficiently descriptive. Not only does he paint a picture […]
Andrew Bell has an irritating habit of talking about things we have no idea about without bothering to expand on them. “the gloriously un-PC American God is the stand out moment” he says of Guilt and Shame, leaving it entirely at that. “The mind reading phone gimmick doesn’t really work”, he adds, later. Either explain […]
I’ll be honest with you, Elspeth Rudd got my back up right from the off. “ELSPETH RUDD is currently an undergraduate studying English at Bangor University,” quoth her bio. “This will be her first Edinburgh Festival and she isn’t entirely sure what she is letting herself in for!” Well hey, Elspeth, it’s only people’s lives […]
Dave Fargnoli has been at Three Weeks for four years, which in itself is astonishing. There are three types of reviewer at Three Weeks, and none of them tend to stick around that long. There’s the review-tourist, who usually moves on to other life experiences; the serious reviewer who moves on to a more substantial […]
“Tears of laughter will merge with tears of fear,” says Clare Dolan about Dayne Rathbone. Tears of Fear? Has anyone ever cried such tears? It’s a shame, because this is the only silly thing Dolan says in her (admittedly not extensive) canon of five comedy reviews. In fact, her Rathbone review gave the best flavour […]