Fringe Friday 2024: Week One

The sun is shining, Team Seagull are running around like headless chickens trying to get into every show they can, and you can't move for flyers on New Road. That's right, it's Brighton Fringe season, and your favourite reviewers are writing up reviews everywhere they can for your entertainment.

If you like David Sedaris, John Mulaney, and a sexy accent, you might like this show

Russian-born, LA-residing Renata Shayk brings you this enjoyable, lengthily-titled storytelling show, which takes in high parental expectations, hating thoughtful presents and hepatitis contracted from strawberries. Shayk is a charming and likeable stage presence and was able to develop a good connection to the audience despite a slightly mannered performance. I tend not to like doing “fans of x will like y” constructions in my reviews but since I’ve been handed this one: If you like David Sedaris, John Mulaney, and a sexy accent, you might like this show.

By Adam Englebright

Nathan Cassidy: The Spine That Shagged Me

The Seagull’s Best Standup two years running, Nathan Cassidy’s relentless pace has not let up as he brings the first of two new shows to the Fringe this year. We’re treated to a hilarious meander through The Life Of Pi, the wonders of diazepam and stealing from the Post Office, with an underlying darkness that complicates and unsettles without ever throwing you off entirely. He even managed to make his adlibs—from dealing with a heckler to borrowing our editor’s dog-shaped handbag—loop back and feed into the classically Cassidyan big finale. You know what the deal is by now, readers: if you see there’s a Nathan Cassidy show on, go to it.

By Adam Englebright