Seasoned comedian Rachel Fairburn brings something new to her Fringe with character-based show Side Eye. It seems she can’t quite let her stand-up roots go though, and welcomes the audience with a spot of crowd work, essentially performing her own warm-up. A mental gear-change is required, then, when she slips into her first character: Daphne Frost, or Boss Bitch to you and me as it says so in a poster in her house. We soon catch up as she sets the scene, dropping an incredibly satisfying C-bomb along the way. 

What follows is a set of individual monologues which establish entirely separate characters, advance a central, shared narrative, and make us laugh a lot. It’s a lovely piece of writing that sustains itself beautifully right up to the final bit (the loose ends-tying wrap-up and commentary really isn’t needed, as her creations do a good enough job on their own). Still, this is a polished and accomplished hour with a lot of laughs: Fairburn more than rises to her self-set challenge and is clearly having the time of her life along the way. Also, never trust a dude with a podcast. 

Rachel Fairburn: Side Eye, Monkey Barrel The Hive, until 25 August, 12.30pm.