Tech misadventures, train strikes and thinking that an asparagus is an island off the coast of Greece, a Yorkshire stand-up shines in this Athens of the North performance
Stand-up tag team Beth Fox and pub-running Oli Burkill invite punters to sit back and laugh at the every day absurdities of our lives in their hilarious run of comedy entertainment ‘It’s All Gravy’.
Cowgate after-dark. A time when red umbrella-wielding tour guides have been replaced with dementor-like ghost walking tour leaders.
One welcome half-pint of Guinness later, our huddle ushered in to a small room with fold-away chairs reflecting the purple glow of the violet stage. A lone microphone stood proudly in the centre.
‘Chaise Longue’, a track by Isle of Wight’s Wet Leg boomed out of the speakers as Beth leapt onto the stage to open the night’s proceedings.
Absent from the usual sassy put-downs and jabs to be expected from stand-up, the duo diffused any fears of front-row occupying attendees with friendly introductions.
‘I thought an asparagus was a Greek Island’ Beth announced on the simplicity of her Northern roots.
Oli – now living in London – talked of bewilderment amongst tube, bus and general travel chaos, of babies being given to bus drivers by impatient businessmen to sycophantic employers giving people the day off for the troubles of their lateness.
Speaking of her tech misadventures, Beth’s affair with clingy streaming services was a highlight, and she kicked off the evening of physical observational comedy. Oli’s set in the latter half kept the high-energy throughout.
‘Any Gen-Zs in the room?’
– Beth Fox
Few hands were raised.
They laugh: ‘Good. You’re outnumbered.’
Gesticulating her ‘frequently used emojis’ , Beth acted out her emotional breakdown of sorts with technology.
‘My most recently used emojis are distraught sad face, passive aggressive thumbs up, and .. you know, that dancing man in flares?’
Beth said, embodying each of the emotions with beautiful absurdity.
In a performance reminiscent of evenings watching comedy giants Victoria Wood’s ‘Hailey Bailey’ sketch, so too did Oli and Beth capture the soul and wit of the every day person; making them likeable, and left feeling you knew them a bit too.
Speaking to the stand-up comic, who had mistakenly updated her e-mail sign off to now read: ‘Warmest, Bath xx’, I asked about her thoughts on how self-deprecating jokes influenced their set:
She said: “When we’re all down at the pub, the first thing we’ll do is sit down an tell each other how terrible our day’s been, and how much we made a tit of ourselves, so I think it’s a bit of a reflection of that really!”
Oli’s tale of living as a bald, white man also opened a cultural conversation:
“It’s a right of passage,” he said post-show. “Where I come from, all of the men in my family bar maybe one or two are bald or lose their hair at eighteen. So, it is very much a right of passage and you wear that on your sleeve. Because you know what peoples’ opinions of that is. You just embrace it!’
As the pair make their return visit to Edinburgh, Beth and Oli’s comedy is a delight from start to finish.
Audiences from a range of ages will connect with their warm, inviting and light-hearted stand-up, not without moments of dry shock factor – notably from Oli – throughout.
- ‘It’s All Gravy’ performances take place 10.10pm at
- Just the Tonic at The Mash House. Venue 288. 37 Guthrie Street, EH1 1JG.
- Tickets are £3 and can more information can be found here.
Edinburgh-based journalist. Lover of radio and print.
