Lolly, Edinburgh Fringe review: a talent show spoof shows off this rising star's skills

Lolly Adefope is a talented new character comedian

Lolly Adefope is a promising talent. This is her Fringe debut but she already has a host of television projects in the pipeline, including Josh Widdicombe's Josh on BBC3 and Rotters on Sky Arts, with Dr Brown, Daniel Simonsen and John Kearns.

In Lolly she plays a cast of characters at a “local open mic community talent show evening.” The bubbly Brummie host is Wendy Parks, whose 40 years working on movie sets as a runner, have given her a false sense of her own celebrity.

The bill includes a terrible stand-up called Gemma, a madcap loudmouth who has clearly been told by her friends that she should go into comedy although she has no material whatsoever, and political comedian/ activist and “five-times vegan” X who campaigns for “No more page 3… in any book”, among other things.

Events are broken up with daft adverts from local sponsors and some rather good singing. Lolly eventually appears as “stand-up comedian Lolly Adefope” to make some bone-dry observations about “doing comedy as a black woman.”

As sparkling as her characters are, I'd like to have heard more from the real Lolly Adefope as she clearly has something fresh and interesting to say. Either way, very much one to watch.

To 31 August (0131 556 6550; www.edfringe.com)