Lolly, Edinburgh Fringe review: a talent show spoof shows off this rising star's skills

 

Alice Jones
Monday 17 August 2015 06:30 EDT
Comments
Lolly Adefope is a talented new character comedian
Lolly Adefope is a talented new character comedian

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Lolly Adefope is a promising talent. This is her Fringe debut but she already has a host of television projects in the pipeline, including Josh Widdicombe's Josh on BBC3 and Rotters on Sky Arts, with Dr Brown, Daniel Simonsen and John Kearns.

In Lolly she plays a cast of characters at a “local open mic community talent show evening.” The bubbly Brummie host is Wendy Parks, whose 40 years working on movie sets as a runner, have given her a false sense of her own celebrity.

The bill includes a terrible stand-up called Gemma, a madcap loudmouth who has clearly been told by her friends that she should go into comedy although she has no material whatsoever, and political comedian/ activist and “five-times vegan” X who campaigns for “No more page 3… in any book”, among other things.

Events are broken up with daft adverts from local sponsors and some rather good singing. Lolly eventually appears as “stand-up comedian Lolly Adefope” to make some bone-dry observations about “doing comedy as a black woman.”

As sparkling as her characters are, I'd like to have heard more from the real Lolly Adefope as she clearly has something fresh and interesting to say. Either way, very much one to watch.

To 31 August (0131 556 6550; www.edfringe.com)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in