Andrew Lawrence - How to Butcher Your Loved Ones

You shouldn't judge a Fringe show by its poster, but Andrew Lawrence's debut offering is very well represented by the rather alarming image on the right.

With a wild mane of wavy ginger hair and a piercing stare to match, he speaks with an elderly growl and looks like a red squirrel caught in headlights for most of his brilliantly funny performance.

It's all an act, of course - Lawrence boldly steps out of character for a couple of minutes just in case we weren't sure - and it's a fantastically executed one.

From his conception in a filthy toilet cubicle, through playground taunts to adventures in cannibalism and a job in a public library, Lawrence punctuates his sordid tales with devilish wheelchair jokes and a series of side-splitting murder ballads. His voice proves to be perfect for these macabre melodies, the choruses of which feature a hilarious repertoire of guttural howls and falsetto yelps.

There are no dips or falters in this storming 55 minute set, full of dirty, disgusting and downright tasteless tales, perhaps the best of which is an all-too-literal definition of 'an animal in the bedroom department'.

A fantastic debut - catch him before he develops nodules on those vocal chords.