2014 Edinburgh Fringe

I've been to see Wrong Comedy Twice now. The first time I went the show was one of the funniest I saw that week. Bob Walsh, the promoter/MC, creates such an infectious buzz in the room. A self-confessed old leftie, Bob is the pulse that keeps the show moving and you can't help but get carried along with his chaotic enthusiasm. If I had any criticism of the first Wrong Comedy show it would have been that I'd like to have seen more of Bob. On that occasion one of my friends got pulled out of the audience by a gay magician. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. I wish I could remember the guy's name. The same could not be said for the guy we saw the other night. His name was Harry. We left unsure whether we disliked or felt sorry for him. Don't get me wrong here. We laughed, but when we all chatted about it later we discovered each of us had laughed for different reasons, some out of awkwardness, some pity, some fear, but none of it out of respect for his comedy. I found his comedy a bit dated. It was all a bit America of the 90's shouty comedian. The type where your punchline has to be screamed at the room to emphasise you're saying something funny. This will always get a laugh as an audience gets the release of tension created by someone screaming at the room. I assume he was playing a character. It's all a bit vague and, I suspect, mixed up with his own personal demons as he gives off what I assume is a faux "I don't care what you think of me" vibe. You're doing comedy for God's sake, the branch of the arts that is defined by the act's complete desire to be liked by a room and to entertain and be loved. I'm sure he'll appeal to the shock jock, teens and twenty somethings, but I found him to be a confused contradiction of personal demons and badly thought through character comedy. His attempt at "telling it like it is" comedy simply comes across as arrogant and hollow. Now don't get me wrong here, he was very funny in parts, but when seeing acts in such compilation nights I always ask myself if I'd like to see then in a longer show. All my friends quite unanimously said they had seen more than enough of him that night. In fairness to Bob I'm giving the night a 4 star on the basis our first night was so brilliant (I'd have given that night a 5). I'll definitely be looking out for Bob's Wrong Comedy next year and would recommend others to do the same.

I went to see this show from the Wee Blue Book and it was brilliant ! I do love a bit of rude and offensive comedy and the description of rude blue lairy sweary in the book lured me along and that was what I got. Bob 'Walshy' Walsh the MC is totally enjoying himself and wallowing in the freedom that a crowd clearly primed for what is to come gives him and he has some top class Frankie Boyle meets Shameless type jokes and stories throughout the show.
I know the line ups change throughout the Fringe but the line up on this night was fantastic.
It opened with 2 brilliant Scottish acts the first of which was Martin Bearne who I had previously seen at The Stand in Glasgow and he was just SO FUNNY and disarmed everyone by sneaking a couple of clean jokes in just when we weren't expecting it. Then the vey gay Kyle Wallace did a brilliant trick whilst chatting up his victims and he had us in absolute stitches.
After the gay magician came the women, Laura Hayden was top class with some of the bluest material I have ever heard from a woman about everything from blow jobs to pubic hair and then Hilary Fox played us out with some shockingly good songs with a certain rude cheekyness and her beautiful song to her long suffering hubby " I f***ing hate you" was the perfect finish.
I love this sort of stuff and I am only annoyed that I missed it the last two years.
This show is anarchic, mental and sometimes quite offensive, I wouldn't take my gran but if you like this sort of thing, and I do, they do it very very well.