August 31, 2025  One4Review

Review of David Ingram: Carrot Top (Memoirs of a Gay)

Carrot Top, Memoirs of a Gay, is a bright and breezy expose of David Ingram’s chequered past, from his humble roots growing up in Scotland to the dizzy heights of being cabin crew and travelling the world. His humour although observational, is also out to shock with tirades of sexual innuendo and emotional baggage. His one liners can be cutting, clever and dirty all at the same time with a dollop of blunt sarcasm thrown in. Some of the funnies around stereotyping may be a bit obvious but in general his material is edgy enough to land well with the crowd. The venue lends itself to this show incredibly well as we are all sat in aeroplane seats, but there’s no trolley service on this short haul gig. His early years and family life have some hilarious moments, it’s an overdose of campness on a grand scale. I did enjoy Ingram’s show, but still it feels that there’s more to come. It has the bones of being a very good show, but there’s a bit too much cliché. His throw away one liners are great but too many means they are easily forgotten. Click Here

August 30, 2025  The Real Chris Sparkle

Review of Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity

Welcome to Icarus Airways; if any airline’s name should make you quake with fear, that’s the one. But host Dan is a very welcoming member of the cabin crew and promises you a flight that’s not only funny, but intelligent and thought-provoking. Mixing storytelling with music, his comedy songs often have an acerbic kick to them that makes you laugh, but with a sharp intake of breath at the same time. He’s had a few rough moments over the past couple of years, but they have inspired the original material that makes up this, his first solo Edinburgh hour. Extremely likeable, and with a fluid, confident delivery; I’m still singing must come down hours after the show finished! Intriguing and entertaining, and I shall certainly be following his future career with interest. Click Here

August 19, 2025  Edinburgh Reviews

Review of Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity

I was invited to Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity without really knowing anything about Dan or the show – or even having been in the West Port Oracle before. It was a great experience! Vibe The first shock I got was that I went downstairs in West Port Oracle, and found myself… on a plane! WHAT. I never knew this was here! It’s such a novelty thing for a venue to have, and I was delighted when I realised the recline function still works on the seats. Then I was even more pleasantly surprised to learn that Dan had worked in the plane theme of the venue into his show – coincidence? I doubt it, but it’s brilliant. I was immediately entertained, and some of us were given in-flight cards, too. A few of them had instructions on them – mine just had ‘travel safe’ and a condom stuck to it! (No idea what I was supposed to do, if anything) I settled into what was set to be an entertaining show of musical comedy. The show itself Dan has a lovely, engaging, friendly stage presence and you immediately feel at ease with him as he plays some songs and lets you get to know a bit more about him. Dude seems a little bit accident prone, as we hear about two accidents and a medical emergency in Iceland (the shop, not the country!). But the main thing is, he’s okay now and he’s an utter delight to watch on stage. His songs are catchy, witty and funny – why had I never heard of Dan before? One song is based around one of the internet’s favourite things to take the piss out of at the moment, and that’s a ‘Karen’. As soon as Dan launched into the song, I saw a couple getting a little bit closer with the woman getting some reassuring attention, and I instantly knew her name was Karen. Luckily, she took it in good humour. There’s a nice bit of audience participation in the show, aided in part by the cards that Dan gave out at the start, but also later on with an optimisation vs pessimism song which got everyone involved and felt like a lovely way to end things – I definitely left the venue feeling more on the up than the down. Overall I had a great time at Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity, and will now be keeping an eye out for future Dan shows. I laughed, I cheered, and I really enjoyed the songs – they’re well-written, clever and funny. If you can make it along before end of Fringe, I highly recommend you do. Thanks, Dan! Click Here

August 13, 2025  The Real Chris Sparkle

Review of Ross Leslie: Now Is The Time

Ross Leslie cuts an avuncular figure on stage, with a relaxed, confident delivery and a set full of original material, such as the exposure of a big family secret, his elaborate plans to commit murder* and the ins and outs of sex robotry. Originally, the show was to have a unifying theme, but that has now merged into the rest of his material, much of which stems from his home life, to create a warm hour of funny domestic and familial observations. *I’m sure he doesn’t really intend to commit murder. Click Here

August 5, 2025  One4Review

Review of Ross Leslie: Now Is The Time

Sitting on airplane seats complete with overhead lights and windows was a quirky way to start the show. Once we were safely strapped in Ross then took us on his journey in a heart-warming show predominately about family. Ross’s opening gag was about the pressure that IVF babies must endure to be successful “imagine spending £55K on a child only for them to become a Tik Tok influencer” In contrast, he joked that only cost attributed to the conception of his own children was £10 for a decent bottle of chardonnay. The heart of the show was a shocking family secret uncovered by his teenage son thanks to modern technology and that was that in his teenage years Ross’s mother had served time for drug dealing, he described his mothers arrest as the worst day of his life but on the plus side he did have the best wrapped packed lunches in the school at one point and was a dab hand at using kitchen scales. Ross delved into his drug fuelled clubbing days of the 90’s and how at one point during a rave In Glasgow he had thrown a bottle in the air, headbutted it and kept dancing. As the show progressed, we were treated to amusing tales involving weed edibles, conspiracy theorists and sex robots before awkwardly hearing how Ross has met his wife who had previously been engaged to his uncle, causing a family rift and to top it off, his now stepson also happens to be his cousin. An intimate feel-good show, Ross Leslie comes across as a quietly funny, likeable guy, at no point were there belly laughs from the audience, but everyone left with wide smiles on their faces. Click Here