Latest news with #LilyBlumkin
Edinburgh Reporter
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fringe 2025 – read three of our ⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews from the first week here
All of our festival and Fringe coverage can be found at this link here – but here are just three of our four star reviews to whet your appetite. If you see something that you would like to recommend then do get in touch! Click here to send us a message. Lily Blumkin:Nice Try! Could we be seeing the birth of a new comic star? That's the conceit behind Lily Blumkin's Edinburgh debut character comedy show in which, as the narrator, she has a heightened sense of her comedic potential but comes to terms with her insecurities as she sets out on the path to being discovered. Blumkin, 28, starts the show in her New Jersey childhood bedroom, which she recalls smelled 'like beef stew' as she never washed the sheets. An unpeopled photo of it, with its ample well-made double bed, is relayed on an overhead screen, suggesting a lack of action. Read more here Del Valle: A true tale of sex, drugs, rock n roll… and redemption A journey of acting and addiction from Texas to Hollywood, to the Chelsea Hotel and back to a Texas prison cell This show is written and performed by Ned Van Zandt. It is a darkly comic memoir that charts Van Zandt's extraordinary life from teenage acting star to the drug-fuelled chaos of 1970s New York, and eventually the harsh realities of incarceration. This isn't typical Fringe fare – it's a masterpiece that pulls no punches and could be expected to be performed at the International Festival. Van Zandt has worked with Jane Fonda in Coming Home as 'a soldier boy'. He nearly became Luke Skywalker – 'but didn't'. Van Zandt name drops his way through his career, and tells us how he arrived in New York to escape from the West Coast. He was in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel.. Read more here PSA: Pelvic Service Announcement Amy Veltman's Edinburgh Fringe debut tackles a subject most people would rather not discuss over dinner, transforming pelvic floor health into an unexpectedly entertaining hour of theatre. PSA: Pelvic Service Announcement proves that even the most uncomfortable topics can become compelling viewing when approached with wit, warmth, and unflinching honesty. This multimedia solo show breaks taboos with infectious enthusiasm, as Veltman guides audiences through what she calls a 'raw and ridiculous extravaganza.' Her arsenal includes memorable characters, catchy songs, and a gloriously unmedical chart that somehow makes anatomical education genuinely funny. The New York performer demonstrates impressive range, seamlessly shifting between comedic personas while maintaining the show's educational core. Read more here © 2025 Martin McAdam Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fringe 2025 – Lily Blumkin: Nice Try! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Could we be seeing the birth of a new comic star? That's the conceit behind Lily Blumkin's Edinburgh debut character comedy show in which, as the narrator, she has a heightened sense of her comedic potential but comes to terms with her insecurities as she sets out on the path to being discovered. Blumkin, 28, starts the show in her New Jersey childhood bedroom, which she recalls smelled 'like beef stew' as she never washed the sheets. An unpeopled photo of it, with its ample well-made double bed, is relayed on an overhead screen, suggesting a lack of action. In an engagingly zany hour, Blumkin – a writer and sketch performer on 'The Daily Show' on the US cable channel Comedy Central – plays nine original characters with zest and sharp comic timing. First up is Jeffrey, her first boyfriend and best friend of the partying barmitzvah boy Josh, on whom he secretly had a crush, and for whom she dons a camp curly-haired wig. Her first love, though, was Stephanie and she next appears as her dad, Steve, with an eye-liner moustache and red shirt, throwing around a supportive rainbow-coloured tablecloth which he got from dutifully getting himself acquainted with the they/them nomenclature as he seeks, with mixed success, to prove he's not anti-gay. Other characters include Trish, her mum's best friend, getting sozzled and flinging wine over herself at a book club as she attempts to escape from her two aggressive boys; and a wildly inventive 'sentient clump of hair', wearing a cowboy-style brown string jacket, which had got stuck to a grimy, ceramic tile in the shower. There's also a with-it tallit-wearing rabbi working the crowd at Lily's batmitzvah, a photo of which is relayed on the backstage screen. 'If you like what you heard you can check out my podcast, 'Rabbi riffs' … on myPhone,' he says. It's all deliciously silly and fondly sent up in a confident and quirky show, which was directed in its New York premiere by Ariel Gitlin and in Edinburgh by Lanee' Sanders. Lily Blumkin: Nice Try! Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, Blether (Until Aug 25, not Aug 14) Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, Blether (Until Aug 25, not Aug 14) Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Daily Show star Lily Blumkin Makes Edinburgh Fringe debut with heartfelt and hilarious character comedy
An Emmy-winning writer and performer from The Daily Show is set to make her hotly anticipated Edinburgh Fringe debut this August with a touching and sharply funny solo show exploring childhood dreams, social media fame and the bittersweet truths of growing up. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... An Emmy-winning writer and performer from The Daily Show is set to make her hotly anticipated Edinburgh Fringe debut this August with a touching and sharply funny solo show exploring childhood dreams, social media fame and the bittersweet truths of growing up. Lily Blumkin, who has helped The Daily Show scoop two consecutive Emmy Awards and penned the 2023 White House Correspondents' Dinner speech for comedian Roy Wood Jr, brings her character comedy hour Nice Try to the Gilded Balloon's Patter House venue for the full festival run from 30 July to 25 August (not 14th). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Having sold out its debut in New York, Nice Try sees Blumkin take audiences on a whirlwind trip through nine original characters, each inspired by the clutter of her childhood bedroom as her fictionalised self prepares to move out for good. Along the way, she introduces a chaotic cast of figures from her past, from a bar mitzvah crush and a too-eager dad to a beauty counter bully and a scandalous HR rep. Lily Blumkin At the heart of the show is a poignant and playful confrontation between the present-day Lily and her idealistic 12-year-old self, offering a fresh twist on coming-of-age storytelling. With TikTok fame forever just out of reach and self-doubt setting in, Nice Try asks what happens when you give it your all and still fall short—and whether success is ever quite what it seems. 'I think a lot of people feel like they're about to break through, but never quite do,' says Blumkin. 'This show plays with that tension, the stories we tell ourselves, and how we rewrite the past to suit the present.' Known for her quick wit and dynamic character work, Blumkin is a mainstay of New York's comedy scene, with appearances at the New York Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest and NYC Sketchfest. Her writing has been recognised by the Webby Awards, Nantucket Film Festival and Points in Case, among others. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fringe audiences can expect a mix of fast-paced comedy, heartfelt nostalgia and laugh-out-loud absurdity in what promises to be one of the standout debut shows of the year. Nice Try runs at 5.40pm daily (except 14 August) at Gilded Balloon – Patter House – Blether.
