Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Josh Elton: Away With The Fairies
Josh Elton
Genre: Comedy
Venue: Hoot 4 at Hoots @ The Apex
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Josh Elton’s debut hour at Hoots 4 is fast-paced, witty and packed with personality. A confident, charming debut from a comedian with a distinctive voice and plenty of promise.
Review
Josh Elton: Away With The Fairies plays at the Hoots 4 venue at Grassmarket, situated near the foot of Edinburgh’s historic castle. It is a small but perfectly formed space and proves an excellent match for a comedian offering up his debut hour for our delectation.
The Swansea funny man feels it is sensible to let us know that he draws on a wonderfully unusual and diverse heritage for much of his comedy. Half Welsh, half Jewish (Welshish? Jewelsh? It’s a challenge to coin a truly satisfying moniker), he embraces each culture wholeheartedly. At one point, he proudly reveals his ‘Star of Daffydd’ – a merging of the Star of David with Celtic design – a witty emblem that encapsulates his dual identity. This cultural richness underpins much of the humour throughout the show, giving Elton a bountiful vein of material to mine.
We are taken through his early years: childhood scraps with his brother, grappling with being labelled ‘away with the fairies’ (a phrase that, depending on the context, covered everything from ADHD to being a member of the queer community) and the first moments when he realised comedy might be something he could actually do. He shares the thrill of discovering an audience that would laugh along with him, rather than at him, a distinction that shaped his confidence. Elsewhere, his story of early bedroom exchanges with his girlfriend had me in stitches — at one point wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
Elton’s audience work is deft, smart and never cruel. He has a knack for drawing out humour from fleeting exchanges, and his callbacks to earlier crowd interactions land brilliantly, wringing every ounce of comic potential from the moment.
The delivery style is fast-paced, urging us to keep up as he rattles through anecdotes with a glint of mischief and a sense of disbelief at the absurdities of his own life. His energy fills the room, and while the hour is packed tight with material, it never feels rushed – instead it feels like being caught up in a lively conversation with a friend who just happens to be very, very funny.
Josh Elton: Away With The Fairies is a cracking debut and well-rounded hour, brimming with charm, wit and personality. Definitely a name to watch.
