Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

James Trickey’s debut Fringe run last year took a violent swerve on the home straight. The final show of his run was interrupted by the fire at the Pleasance, leading him to attempt an impromptu happening in the car park muster point, performing to his audience members as they gathered around him. 

And then, right in the middle of that, some bellend came up and punched him in the face. He attended the Fringe wrap party with his lip stitched up, all of which explains his decision to enter this year’s show wearing boxing headgear.

Luckily, the experience hasn’t caused him to reckon with his masculinity too much (yawn). Instead, he remains the same likeable, low-key presence, a practising accountant whose primary motivation is to make life as easy for himself as possible. 

To that end, he has a solid clutch of routines here, taking in hair pills, Chinese buffets and the petty racist bullying he was subjected to in school. It’s fairly disposable stuff, and he treats it lightly, but the material is good and the laughs are frequent.

He’s most interesting on his family background, a topic he already looked at in his debut. His father was a white man who was already 60 when James was born, and his mother was a Cambodian hotel worker who Trickey Sr. sneaked into the UK when she got pregnant.

The comedian tussles warily with what might have been going on behind the scenes at the time but doesn’t let it weigh on him too much – as a stand-up, he’s determined to remain light on his feet.

Review date: 25 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Tim Harding
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard