Sketch Book comedy: Edinburgh Preview, 
Rosemary Branch Theatre, London

AS July collapses into August, all the weirdos migrate north. Trains, planes and automobiles, filled with more clowns than seems possible — honk, honk! — are en route to Edinburgh for the Fringe.

Some of these clowns are tired already. Every year, working-class performers warn anyone who will listen of the unsustainability of the rent and expense of it all, and bemoan the lack of support from a city seemingly happy to murder the comedic golden goose in search of the eternal tourist dollar.

Next year, those still able to will pick themselves up and do it all over again.

As we wait for the clown union to ballot for the necessary strike action, Grubby Little Mitts present a preview showcase of some of the best sketch, clown and character comedy available for your delectation this summer.

We start with a rubbish clown — literally. Eliza Nelso is Cabbage The Clown, bright green and in worker’s overalls. She reaches the stage by clambering over the audience with assorted brushes, dust pans and impossible-to-open bin liners. Her physical comedy is on point, and is mixed with drag and lip-sync elements — this blending of the queer and alternative comedy worlds has been rendered far more political and explicit in recent years thanks to the effort of brilliant, unapologetic young artists like Nelso.

Next we have Jake Bhardwaj, whose effortless charm and accidental physical hi-jinks (he immediately makes a mic stand go limp) mark him out as one to watch. Bhardwaj is at heart a host and rabble rouser, and his Edinburgh show — formed around the pub quiz format — seems perfectly calibrated to make the most of these specific skills.

As this is a mixed bill, we only get a snippet of each show, like a tasting menu, with flavours that might only make sense when tasted over a full hour. Nevertheless, there’s so much to love here: one-man Love Island parodies from Rory Marshall, queer solar system grotesque from Cameron Sinclair Harris, infuriatingly catchy clubland quest songs from Will & Noah, and tragic would-be ballerinas from Jess Carrivick.

Whether performing for 10 minutes or an hour, meeting the audience halfway isn’t something folk horror sketch duo The Mayor & His Daughter seem interested in. This isn’t a criticism: theirs is a richly realised world, with sacred items, explorations of Id and Ego, and some really stupid jokes amid the tension between our hapless yet in-control mayor and his chaotic, prancing, destructive and deconstructing daughter.  

The aforementioned Grubby Little Mitts, our hosts, are not going to Edinburgh this year. Whether this is a fallow year or — as they joke — they simply didn’t get the venue they wanted, they’ll be missed, as they’re one of the sharpest double acts out there.

Here, they write a sketch during the interval based on audience interaction with some awkward programmers. The quality, given such a short turnaround, is very impressive, as we career through a madcap investigation of sentience and the practicality of sex robots.

Closing the show are Ada and Bron — a brilliant, award-winning duo who have put together an hour about a pair of doomed and — if this preview is anything to go by — preposterously stupid lovers. Their skill, both as writers and performers, include an ability to go big and go broad if the characters and the scenarios demand it. A Grimm’s fairytale style pair of medieval idiots are joyously silly and a digital love affair in the care home of the future is bizarre, disturbing and very, very funny.

All, and indeed, any of these acts are worthy of your attention. See them before they get famous — or quit comedy — in precisely one month’s time.

All the acts mentioned are performing at Edinburgh Fringe. Find their show via Sketch Book’s handy link.