It's commonplace to say that political comedy is back. But the lean years weren't that lean: we still had Andy Parsons. His masterstroke, which may be why he's sometimes overlooked as a political stand-up, is that his politics ride in on the back of a ridiculous comic persona. Parsons is like some frustrated town crier, whose proclamations stop just before the point when, maddened by the idiocy of modern British life, his top might blow clean off.
It's a persona that's perfectly calibrated for Britain under New Labour, where the obviously correct ways to run a country are given no mainstream expression. Yes, it is absurd that, under privatisation, "you smell gas, so you ring the electricity board, and they come round and fix your phone". Yes, Blair should be kinder to students, because "if it wasn't for student essays online, this government wouldn't have a foreign policy". The highlight is an account of a day's travel on the British railway (12 hours, zero miles) that could have been scripted by Ionesco.
This is a satisfying mix of daftness and righteous rage, which brings home both the comedy and the tragedy of the fact that audiences frequently complain to Parsons after the show: "You didn't mention blah-de-blah. That's shit as well."
· Until August 29. Box office: 0131-226 2428.
