fringe round-up: Parallel Lines

They don't show much cricket on the television in Scotland. Not even the Test match. So, if festival-goers see a man who looks, and indeed sounds, like Michael Atherton walking round the Pleasance courtyard, they should not worry. The England captain hasn't thrown in the towel against Pakistan, upped stumps and come to chance his arm on the Fringe.

Looks apart, Dave Gorman has at least one other Athertonian quality: quiet professionalism. He's not a flare player. Surprisingly for the writer of The Mrs Merton Show, he doesn't take too many chances with his material - in stand-up Valhalla there's probably a special hall for gags about collecting milk bottle tops for the blind and Hare Krishnas ("You get a bit pissed off with people coming up to you and saying, 'You've been Tango'd' "). But, for a first solo show, it's a good solid opener none the less.

n Pleasance (venue 33). To 31 Aug (not today and 27)

Putting James Joyce on stage has never been easy. Strange, because his sheer relish for wordplay cries out to be heard rather than just read