Mae Martin
Maeve Higgins
Maff Brown
Magnus Betner
Malcolm Hardee
Mandy Knight
Mandy Muden
Marc Lucero
Marc Maron
Marc Wootton
Marcel Lucont
Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Ryan
Marek Larwood
Margaret Cho
Maria Bamford
Marian Pashley
Marie Vagen
Mark Allen
Mark Barrowcliffe
Mark Cooper-Jones
Mark Cornell
Mark Dolan
Mark Felgate
Mark Gatiss
Mark Hurst
Mark Maier
Mark Nelson
Mark Niel
Mark Olver
Mark Restuccia
Mark Simmons
Mark Smith
Mark Steel
Mark Stephenson
Mark Thomas
Mark Walker
Mark Watson
Markus Birdman
Marlon Davis
Martha McBrier
Martin Beaumont
Martin Coyote
Martin Davis
Martin Hill
Martin Mor
Martin Tapley
Martine Pepper
Marty McLean
Marty Wilson
Mary Bourke
Masai Graham
Mat & Faron
Mat Ewins
Mathew Horne
Matilda Wnek
Matt Blaize
Matt Dyktynski
Matt Forde
Matt Grantham
Matt Green
Matt Hollins
Matt Kirshen
Matt Lucas
Matt Price
Matt Reed
Matt Rees
Matt Richardson
Matt Rudge
Matt Tiller
Matt Watts
Matt Welcome
Matthew Hardy
Matthew Highton
Matthew Holness
Matthew Osborn
Matthew Winning
Maureen Langan
Maureen Younger
Max Dickins
Max Dowler
Men In Coats
Men With Bananas
Meryl O'Rourke
Michael Ayers
Michael Fabbri
Michael J Dolan
Michael Kossew
Michael Legge
Michael McIntyre
Michael Mooney
Michael Redmond
Michael Smiley
Michael Tombs
Michael Winslow
Michelle De Swarte
Mick Ferry
Mick McGrath
Mick Miller
Mick Sergeant
Mickey Anderson
Mickey D
Mickey Hutton
Mickey Sharma
Micky Flanagan
Midnight Beast
Mike Belgrave
Mike Birbiglia
Mike Gunn
Mike McShane
Mike Milligan
Mike Newall
Mike Sheer
Mike Wilkinson
Mike Wilmot
Mike Wozniak
Miles Crawford
Miles Jupp
Milo McCabe
Milton Jones
Miranda Hart
Miss London
Mitch Benn
Mitch Fatel
Mo The Comedian
Moonfish Rhumba
Moshe Kasher
Mowten
Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer
Mr Cee
Mundo Jazz
Murdo Haggs
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
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An Hour Of Telly: Live! |
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![]() Best known as The Congress Of Oddities, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Zoe Gardner have sneaked into the Fringe this year with a free show that doesn’t feature their names in either the title or programme blurb. But while An Hour Of Telly: Live! might be a low-key, work-in-progress, there’s more to enjoy here than in many allegedly ‘finished’ sketch shows at the festival. The title suggests a fairly traditional selection of TV parodies, but the difference here is that the duo admit from the outset that they don’t really watch the box, so the ensuing 40 minutes is ‘pretty much based on guesswork’. That doesn’t stop them nailing the stilted, scripted dialogue of cheap adverts, the vacuous ‘have your say…’ interactive segments that devalue the medium, or the telethon’s uncomfortable bedfellows of charity and entertainment. But in not being constrained by mocking genuine broadcast output, this charming duo have the ideal opportunity to just mess about, as demonstrated by their bartering with the audience’s possessions, because that’s what they think Bargain Hunt is probably all about. Some of the scenes are madly surreal, yet with a twisted logic that stops them spinning off into randomness; while the pair’s finest techniques is for the sudden overreaction – a violently barked line bursting out of nowhere, shattering the mood of the scene. It’s one of these moments that provides possibly the single funniest line of the month, even if its use of the C-bomb and reliance on context means it was sadly overlooked by the pun-loving viewers of the Dave channel. But that offbeat insult alone wins them an extra star on this review. Versatile Cabourn-Smith gets to show off her full range in a mightily impressive parody of West End musicals – appropriately enough, since she’s also in Gutted! at the Assemby Rooms – while few people do distant otherworldliness like Gardner, who here manages to be both grounded and away with the fairies, sometimes in the same sketch. An Hour Of Telly looks set for great things when it’s finished – but even now, when it’s for free, it’s a solid piece of ridiculous entertainment.
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| Date of live review: Thursday 26th Aug, '10 | |
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Review by Steve Bennett |
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Show - Edinburgh Fringe 2008 - | |
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Show - Edinburgh Fringe 2006 - | |
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No comments are currently available for this comic. |
Where can I see Margaret Cabourn-Smith next?
| 23:20~00:20 - Sunday 18th Aug, '13 | |
| Venue: | Pleasance Courtyard |
| Prices: | £9 |
| Show: | Do The Right Thing [2013] |
| 23:20~00:20 - Monday 19th Aug, '13 | |
| Venue: | Pleasance Courtyard |
| Prices: | £9 |
| Show: | Do The Right Thing [2013] |
| 23:20~00:20 - Tuesday 20th Aug, '13 | |
| Venue: | Pleasance Courtyard |
| Prices: | £9 |
| Show: | Do The Right Thing [2013] |
| 23:20~00:20 - Wednesday 21st Aug, '13 | |
| Venue: | Pleasance Courtyard |
| Prices: | £9 |
| Show: | Do The Right Thing [2013] |

Dogman
Edinburgh Fringe 2006
Congress Of Oddities
Edinburgh Fringe 2008
Real Daniel O'Donnell Show Presents: The Clock Hour
Edinburgh Fringe 2012
Do The Right Thing
Edinburgh Fringe 2013
Do The Right Thing [2013]


