Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

It’s clear to see where Candace Bryan got her outsider credentials, raised by a devoutly communist single father in the Republican heartland of Tennessee, she brings that slant (and some of those politics) to her new hour all about consumerism.

As in last year’s show, she’s an efficient gag machine, which is probably what rescues this show that otherwise lacks much of a narrative or opportunities for investment. 

Even though she admits her own shopping habit is motivated by feelings of doom, and she’s keen to remind us that every product we enjoy is ultimately owned by shady investment corp Blackrock, an hour’s worth of material about online retail is bound to feel a little low-stakes.

Her sense of humour is distinct – dry and acerbic while retaining a pleasant personal warmth. There’s an anger there of a sort, but it never ruffles her composure. Her withering analysis of consumer culture would be best delivered with a martini in hand.

The joke-writing is reliable enough to make for a solid hour, but her attempts to make the show a bit ‘Fringier’ fall a little flat. Her inclusion of the ghost of Karl Marx into the narrative and a kind of Wheel of Fortune device at the end both feel begrudging rather than stemming from any moment of inspiration.

 She’d probably benefit from a narrative that she could really sink her teeth into, but honestly who wouldn’t?

Review date: 21 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Tim Harding
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon Teviot