Beth Vyse @ Monkey Barrel
Daytime TV has never been so compelling
The show going wrong trope is nothing new at the Fringe, but we’re quite certain you’ve never seen anything go as wrong as things do for Beth Vyse as Olive Hands. Aiming to kick-start her career as a daytime talk show host Olive Hands has gotten herself a baby for something Holly and Phil would never do.
What follows is an odd multi-media mix and the most beautiful mess you’ll see anywhere in Edinburgh this August. Her guests hijacked by Paddy McGuinness, she knows the show must go on and so invites members of the audience to fill in for her daytime TV disaster. All the while keeping her co-presenter and infant son 'Tiny Hands' happy.
That being said, it’s also incredibly slick and put together with some fantastic pieces of editing, there's an 'appearance' from Sir David Jason and the most affecting tape measure you’ll ever come across. Vyse turns Hands from a desperate wannabe into an endearing – if batshit insane – host. Olive is a credit to Vyse as comedian, actor and mother, and she might not be the host daytime TV needs, but she is what it deserves.
Beth Vyse as Olive Hands: The Hands that Rocked the Cradle, Monkey Barrel Comedy Club (Room Two), 1-26 Aug (not 15), 3:45pm, £5/PWYW
Scroll on to read more of The Skinny's 2018 Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews; click here for a round-up of all the best reviews from this year's comedy and theatre programme