MATTHEW HAWKINS applauds a psychotherapist’s disection of William Blake
Laughter, the spice of Edinburgh Fringe
INSPIRED BULLSHIT: Julia Masli in 2019
[Isabelle/flickr/CC] 
New releases from Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, Odette Michell, Clementine Lovell
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
THE Edinburgh Fringe has been going for 75 years, and Arthur Smith has been to every single one*. This year, he claims, will be his last.
The night mayor of Balham will, as always, be good value. As will other long-established acts, including Josie Long, Simon Munnery, and Omid Djalili — the latter fresh from being “cancelled” by some of the most eye-wateringly right-wing columnists around.
But if you like comedy, you probably know about these people already. So instead, dear reader, here are my top ten “up and coming” recommendations for this year’s festival.
More from this author
JAMES WALSH has a great night in the company of basketball players, quantum physicists and the exquisite timing of Rosie Jones
JAMES WALSH is moved by an exhibition of graphic art that relates horrors that would be much less immediate in other media
JAMES WALSH applauds the observations of a new Chinese master of stand-up
JAMES WALSH is appalled by the implications of introducing AI to the workplace
