Craig T.’s reacts

This was my 73rd and final show of Fringe 2025 and it was easily one of the best I saw! 'Steve' is an exceptionally charismatic presenter who spends 60 mins running a tongue-in-cheek seminar on how to flirt. Plenty of respectful audience interactions and belly laughs 🙂 Worth checking out if it returns in 2026.

A funny, and surprisingly intelligent, show. The presenter, Pip, is charismatic and provides the audience with the expected stories from her time working in a sex shop, but also provides a detailed overview of which male and female toys are (and are not) well designed, which materials are safest and why, which lubes to avoid due to dangerous PH levels, and so on! It was like a funny, but informative, adult sex ed class :-)

A wonderfully heartfelt magic show that is suitable for people of all ages. I booked this as I had an hour between shows and it lasted 50 mins. I walked in withhout expectations and left impressed. Looking forward to seeing more of this magician in future.

I wouldn't class myself as a reggae fan but loved this relaxed show by the perma-smiling Duane Forrest. During the show, he plays some well known, and lesser known, reggae songs and shares some interesting facts about the genre's history, songs, and his own connections to the music.

An acting masterclass! I watch a large number of theatre shows each year, from small one-hander Fringe shows to large productions. Very few shows leave a lasting impression, but this one will. The acting was on-par with that in Mark Thomas' England and Son from last year's Fringe. Well done to the team who put this excellent together.

A really nice relaxed alternative to the usual Fringe show, where the charismatic host provides audience members with pens, paper, and a clipboard at the start of the show, and then prompts them to draw things (themselves; the person next to them) and create group drawings (where each person adds something new to an existing one). Aimed at adults due to the humour and a great way to switch off for an hour :-)

A light-hearted, funny, and heartfelt show where the actor, with a little help from the audience, re-enacts key scenes from Chaplin's movies and life. Worth checking out, even if you know very little about Charlie Chaplin. Regards, the policeman ;-)

An exceptional 90-ish min solo performance of George Orwell's classic novel and strongly recommended for anyone with an interest in theatre. I attended on preview night and there were a couple of minor hiccups, but that did not detract from quality of this production. If this does not win a weekly award, I would be very surprised.

Mind-blowingly bad. The ‘artist’ spends several mins in the dark with a torch on her unshaved legs (how edgy…), several more waving a stool, and several more doing a rave dance. In between, she weighs up being a woman/man (conclusion: periods bad, strength good). 35 mins and it’s over. A show where the performer has nothing to say (almost literally) and ends 15 mins early. The internet says this has been a work in progress for 5 years! Time to try something new?

Was given a ticket to this show and went along semi-reluctantly as I thought it might be a political show (I am apolitical). I ended really enjoying it :-) The presenter was engaging, funny, and offered an intelligent exploration of nationalism, pointing to some of his own internal struggles as a proud Cornish man. There was even free scones. Worth checking out :-)

Extremely surreal, but funny, show where a man explains how he resurrected his cat, Lentil, using robotics and AI during the pandemic lockdown in the UK. Importantly, Lentil the computer / AI cat is on stage and helps in telling his story / is happy to answer any questions you have about cats, life, and the universe :-) If you are after something a little bit different this Fringe, this is worth a look.

I am ten shows into the 2025 Fringe and this is my favorite so far. In this intimate and emotive show, the narrator, Juno, recounts stories from her life that have involved a diverse range of hugs, from wonderful events that resulted in joyful hugs, to awful events that resulted in sad hugs. I saw a few audience members using their complimentary hankies towards the end! Just a shame it only had a short run during the Fringe. If this doesn't win a Fringe Award, I would be very surprised.