Edinburgh 10 x10

Contrived wordplay doesn’t seem to be in vogue this year, but never fear, there are enough punny titles for us to compile a top ten – for better or for worse.

1. Joe Lycett: If Joe Lycett Then You Should’ve Put a Ring On It

You can always rely on 2009 Chortle Student Comedy Award winner Lycett for some pun fun; and he follows last year’s Some Lycett Hot with this corker of a title. And it did him some good last year, since he made the best newcomer shortlist. Pleasance Courtyard 19:15

2. Carl Donnelly: Now That’s What I Carl Donnelly ! Volume V

Can we get more tortured than Lycett’s title? Yes we can, with this epic from Carl Donnelly, that also conveniently doesn’t peg the storytelling comic to a fixed theme, given that titles have to be submitted months in advance. Pleasance Courtyard, 20:30

3 . Jimmy McGhie: Delusions Of Candour

A rather charming title for this show that purports to show the charming McGhie in an honest light – but even the show’s own blurb admits that he’s ‘frequently deluded’.Pleasance Courtyard, 20:40

4. Craig Campbell's Thrilling Mic Hunt

Naughty Craig Campbell sneaks a naughty word past the draconian Fringe censors, who perhaps never thought to say the title out loud. Taking a break from The Lumberjacks tour of all-Canadian comics, Campbell brings some more raucous stories to the Fringe. Assembly Rooms, 20:45

5. Amateur Transplants: Adam Kay Is Going For A Number One

Stop sniggering at the back.. this title is clearly a reference to the musical comic’s attempt to record a chart-topper. But if you like the puerile pun, the show might be the one for you. Pleasance Courtyard, 20:30

6. Griff Rees Jokes

A man called Rees (multi-award-winning newcomer Matt Rees) and a man kind-of called Griff (Lloyd Griffith) tell some jokes. Hopefully less groan-worthy that the title they came up with. Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom 18:15

7. Jem Brookes: Puntitled

There’s a certain simplicity to that title, for a show that promises no revelations, just jokes. The Skinny said a Brookes show was ‘like having a drink with your weird pun-loving uncle’. It might have been meant as a compliment... Laughing Horse & The Counting House. 21:30

8. Chairman LMAO and the Lolitburo

Trying to hard for a pun? Impossible! At least for Magpie & Stump, Cambridge University’s oldest comedy society (well it started as a debating society in 1866 but was never taken all that seriously, even when the likes of Stanley Baldwin and Bertrand Russell were speaking). For their Edinburgh show, they offer: ‘a selection of stand-up comedy that we promise is more amusing than the show title.’ TheSpace on The Mile, 22:05, 19th to 24th only

9. Bourke and No Hair

Possibly aiming for the illiterate tourist market, Mary Bourke and her bald husband Simon Clayton have appropriated the names of Edinburgh’s most notorious murderers. And what screams ‘comedy’ louder than that? Bristo Bar & Kitchen, 20:00

10. Hardeep Singh Kohli: Hardeep Is Your Love

And a classic pun to end on, as the man who lost his job on The One Show for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ discusses romance in middle age. Pleasance Courtyard 22:30

Published: 19 Jul 2013