Edinburgh Unlocked review – a carnival of comedy from the festival that never was
over 5 years in The guardian
Audiobook, available onlinePenguin’s fine pandemic audio festival delivers hours of laughs from comics including Jordan Brookes, Glamrou, Mo Amar, Michelle de Swarte and Sheeps
‘I’m just imagining a world in which, I’m going to the fringe, the highlight of my year, it’s so communal and exciting, and then – Oh sorry, that’s not happening, what you’ve got instead is some sketches recorded in an audiobook format instead of the best arts festival in the world.” So begins the contribution of sketch troupe Sheeps to Penguin’s audiobook Edinburgh Unlocked. They’re recording this in early March 2020 (so the joke goes), when such a fate is absolutely “not worth thinking about!”
It wasn’t – but is it now? A “fringe-inspired audio comedy festival”, Edinburgh Unlocked can now be enjoyed in lieu of this year’s missing carnival in the Scottish capital. And, even granting Sheeps’ point that it can’t begin to substitute for the real thing, it really is enjoyable. Props to the curators: the lineup is packed with acts I’d have been first in line to see at the in-real-life #Edfringe. Newcomers Chloe Petts and Mo Omar, double-acts Shelf and Anna and Helen, big-hitters Jordan Brookes and John Kearns: it’s a bill that steers far from the middle-of-the-road towards comedy’s most creative talents. Continue reading...
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