The Edinburgh Revue Stand-Up Show @ Beehive

There's impressive material from the four performers and also the MC during this show. The two stars, here, indicate how close it is to the more polished performances of Fringe veterans and those banking on a full-time comedy career. It's harsh to measure students against professional comedians but to do otherwise would be patronising. And especially to the students today, who have great potential. 

True, the material is a little patchy in quality, anxiety is percolating under the surface and this leads to clever jokes and wordplay being mistimed. But, they handle this well. There is a nice moment when one of the performers – perhaps in despair, perhaps as part of the act – walks off stage and out the nearest door. He finds he is in some sort of cupboard and returns to see the show out. He's hugged afterwards by another performer. It's nice to see their solidarity but his act went much better than he perceived. No one steals the limelight, they build a rapport with the audience and the interactive elements are comfortable. The potential in all is evident.

Two of the performers talk of dyslexia and bulimia respectively, and, perhaps much to their own surprise, pull funny material out of unpromising subject matters. The other two go into some wonderfully weird territory and prefer subversive humour (in punchlines, not politics). 

It is recommended. Watching talented performers hone their technique is a nice way to spend an hour. Give generously. It'd be great to persuade these acts to give up on the comfortable future careers they may have in front of them and risk it all on stand-up.