Best late night comedy shows at Edinburgh

 

It is almost a badge of pride that budding talent of the UK can still make it to, and hold up a bar until well past eleven even though they have spent most of the day tucked up with a cereal bar and a plethora of drugs to help them get through the Fringe.

 

And of course the late night shows are where some of the more salacious aspects of the Fringe truly show themselves. With this in mind here is SSP’s top five late night Edinburgh Fringe shows for 2009. Enjoy!

 

Darrell Martin knows better than anyone how to put on a party. His Just The Tonic club in Nottingham has become comedy career launcher of almost mythical proportions, with the likes of Noel Fielding and others making some of their fledgling stand-up shows on its very boards.

 

With a successful ongoing stint at London’s Leicester Square Theatre launching earlier this year, Darrell has even managed to find time to get the cream, and we the mean cream, of comedy talent to come to his new Edinburgh venue, the Caves, to perform midnight extravaganza’s. Don’t believe us?

 

Well a line-up which has Andrew Maxwell, Sarah Millican, Pippa Evans, Nick Doody, John Bishop, Reginald D Hunter… we could go on but we know we don’t need to.

 

Late Saturday nights at the Fringe are set to take a risque twist this year with the launch of Finger in the Pie Cabaret’s Fringe Lates.

 

Presented by London Leisure Pirate’s enigmatic Alfie Boyd and with guest compere Myra Dubios, the new free late night show at Edinburgh’s C-Central Cabaret Bar is set to present some of the most scintillating cabaret acts straight from the heart of Soho: including musical mayhem from the Moonfish Rhumba boys, Burlesque from Twinkle Star, musical comedy from the Hackney Empire Newcomer of the year finalist Vikki Stone not to mention ‘White hot ones to watch’ (Time Out) the sensational Frisky and Mannish, as well as many more very special guests.

 

From the kinky to the kitsch, the bizarre to the brazen, London’s largest showcase for new Cabaret talent, Finger in the Pie’s new residency at C-Central Cabaret Bar every Saturday night will be presenting a line-up of the best that the Fringe can offer as well as a night of cabaret revellry until the early hours of Sunday morning.

 

You love it! Well, maybe not as much as the often repeatable catch-line suggests, but Spank is certainly gaining a reputation as a reliable late night comedy venue.

 

Set in the higher levels of the dank, sweaty cellar that is the Underbelly, and hosted by unrestircted view, the guys behing the excellent twin comedy mecca's The Albany and the Hen and Chickens, Spank has always hosted some of the biggest names in the comedy world alongside the latest unknown talent, which is why it is worth a visit. More information visit

 

There is an air of unpredictability to the whole show which means you can never be sure what the hell is going to happen on any given night – and that is surely the draw of any late night show.

 

It is possibly the only show where you might see Jimmy Carr come on stage to mop up Scott Capurro’s urine. It also has a reputation for attracting impromptu guests who, in the past, have included Lenny Henry, Leo Sayer, Hugh Laurie and Josie Lawrence.

 

More of a guide than an actual event, the countless number of small pubs that stay open well into the early hours make an exploratory venture away from the Bright lights of Cowgate well worth the extra work.

 

Sure, not all of them are good every night but you will truly discover someone while you are here, even if it is only for a weekend.

 

Last year SSP was lucky enough to see Andy White and Mike Wozniak amongst others trying out material way past one in the morning. If your're lucky, you might do too.