<preform>Edinburgh Round-Up: Ross Noble - Sonic Waffle<br>John Laurie, Frazer & I<br>Natalie Haynes - Six Degrees of Desolation<br>Boom Chicago - Rock Stars<br>Simon Munnery - Noble Thoughts of a Noble Mind</preform>

Comedy: Ross Noble ? Sonic Waffle, Pleasance One

By Steve Jelbert

For a man whose catchphrase is effectively, "What was I talking about?", Ross Noble has come a long way. He has slimmed, cherry-picked the best TV slots, and is now set to reach the wider public's consciousness. A recent appearance on Have I Got News For You, when this whippersnapper, still only in his mid-twenties, out-Mertoned Paul Merton, showed his future path.

Here, he's the same witty rambler he's always been, half-heartedly apologising for the tendency of his mind to "go on a camping holiday". Opening with a short film owing a great deal to the blank surrealism of Vic and Bob, even down to the voiceover, he proceeds to regurgitate every element of decades of British comedy, without denying his own personality. Despite the world's worst hecklers, disrupting without destroying his flow, Noble gives everything and reveals nothing, as ever.

Venue 33: 21.00 (1hr) to 26 Aug (not 6 and 20), 0131 556 6550

Theatre: John Laurie, Frazer & I, Gilded Balloon Cave II

By Fiona Sturges

Most of the cast of Dad's Army is either dead or in EastEnders. The Scottish actor John Laurie, who played the elderly prophet of doom Private Frazer, falls into the former category though his spirit is very much alive in this flawed – though sporadically moving – one-man show.

We learn that before going to acting school, Laurie was an architect's clerk in his native Scotland. At 19, he was sent to fight in the Somme but after a year he developed emphysema and was sent home. As Laurie, Ian Watt offers an affectionate portrait of a man trapped inside his own screen persona. The actor spent the latter half of his career being typecast as a cantankerous Scotsman, even though his early years yielded major roles on the stage alongside Olivier and Gielgud.

The show skates over the details of Laurie's personal life, providing us with a list of achievements rather than a rounded portrait. It's only near the end that we hear of Laurie's two marriages, leaving all sorts of questions hanging in the air. Watt is terrific, though. If only the writing matched his performance, this would be a truly great play.

Venue 14: 18.00 (1hr), to 26 August, 0131 226 2151

Comedy: Natalie Haynes ? Six Degrees of Desolation, Pleasance Below

By Steve Jelbert

Those of us who only face comedy for one month of the year have no idea of the glamour of the touring performer's life. Imagine the pressure of having to find a snappy comeback to a recalcitrant promoter, or coping with a now-bald, formerly ginger-haired punter offended by your stereotypes. When Natalie Haynes, already something of a veteran of the circuit at 27, offers such anecdotes, you suspect she might have discovered a whole new approach. However, it transpires that this show is instead a loose attempt to link six depressing themes, such as heartbreak, phobias and homelessness. It's strangely juvenile, a set of problems from the past (this set is some 18 months old), which won't resonate with anyone older than the performer. It's a pity, too, as Haynes is so obviously bright and in tune with her crowd, her high-speed approach both disarming and effective ("The real tragedy is that, in my head, I talk slowly," she says). But comics talking about life on the road? Please. That's like rock stars singing about hotel rooms.

Venue 33: 20.45 (1hr), to 26 August (not 6 and 20), 0131 556 6550

Comedy: Boom Chicago ? Rock Stars, Gilded Balloon Teviot

By Fiona Sturges

Given that a low IQ and an almost pathological desire for humiliation is a prerequisite among pop stars these days, it was only a matter of time before Boom Chicago, Amsterdam's premier improv group, gave them the kicking they deserve. The company specialises in improvisation, though not the smug Whose Line is it Anyway? kind. This lot are content to throw themselves at the mercy of their audience no matter how drunk or stupid they may be (and tonight's turn-out seriously put them to the test). A mixture of scripted scenes and improvisation, Rock Stars is a trawl through the lewd and the downright ludicrous in the contemporary pop scene.

There's a lot that could go wrong here. Along with its reliance on a quick-witted cast, the show juggles live and recorded video footage, computer graphics, lights and music. Happily, it goes like a dream. The opening scene has the cast create a band based on and named by members of the audience. There's also a spoof of Top Of The Pops featuring Britney Spears, Ozzy Osbourne and, courtesy of Jordan Peele, a frighteningly convincing Macy Gray. As usual, Boom Chicago have done themselves proud. Miss them at your peril.

Venue 14: 20.30 (1hr), to 26 August (not 22), 0131 226 2151

Comedy: Simon Munnery ? Noble Thoughts of a Noble Mind, The Stand

By Steve Jelbert

Though his publicity might describe this show, his 15th visit to the Fringe, as his first performance without "machines or characters to hide behind", the entrance of Munnery wearing a bucket and clad from head to toe in orange hardly counts as dressing down. As ever, more conventional comics would kill for his extremely sharp, if portentously delivered one-liners, but he eschews the cheap laugh throughout. The sudden appearance of a co-conspirator, sporting a rubber arm on his head while mumbling a faintly Slavic blues soundtrack, fits the Dadaist mood perfectly. Though a long way from his technically impressive (equipment permitting) League Against Tedium shows, Munnery remains exasperating and brilliant in equal measure. Lunchtime surrealists know where to go.

Venue 5: 14.30 (1hr), to 26 August (not 12), 0131 558 7272