Wiesenthal, Pleasance Courtyard.

Tom Dugan’s inspiring and gripping play tells the story of Simon Wiesenthal’s last day at work at the War Crimes Office in Vienna in 2003 – we, the audience, are the last group of visitors to come in and observe his work. He tells us of his motivations, about some of the worst Nazi criminals and the methods by which he hunted them down, and his relentless drive to keep going. It’s a heartwarming and important work, written with great style and performed by Christopher C Gibbs with a huge affection and respect for the man and his work. Wiesenthal is only retiring because of his age – he’s 94, but there’s a beautiful moment at the end when he passes the baton of responsibility to continue his work to us – and it is indeed up to all of us to continue to root out extremism wherever we see it.

Tarot: Work in Progress, Monkey Barrel Comedy.

When it comes to Edinburgh sketches shows Tarot are the Kings on their thrones – or should that be the jokers in the pack. It’s a Work in Progress, so they present for our delectation a series of sketches that were approved by yesterday’s audience, plus a few rejects that didn’t go down quite so well on the previous day – and pretty much every one of them was a winner. The Tarot team have such a brilliant bond with each other, with an amazing understanding of how each others’ mind works that they dovetail together with effortless ease. And they’re not remotely afraid to look stupid or make each other look stupid. Absolutely top quality!

The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose, Pleasance Courtyard.

The story of the rise and fall of Wall Street wonderkid Jess Wildgoose, Kansas’s most dynamic export, from her rejection-filled early career, where she never got further than barista level, to ruling the roost at a top New York financial institution, and her survival through several near-death experiences, all told through the Voloz Collective’s inimitable style mix of mime and imagination. If you liked The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, you’ll love this; the story hangs together perfectly with a delightful combination of humour and silliness, and is performed with manic athleticism and a touch of the surreal. Hugely entertaining and highly recommended.

Giving the Gift of Offence with Martin Rowson, The Stand’s New Town Theatre.

To his complete credit, Martin Rowson starts his hour analysing the art of offending via the art of political cartooning by holding his hands up about his recent misadventure with the Richard Sharp cartoon that was perceived to be antisemitic. After some classic examples of historical cartoon satire, he moves on to his own career, starting with the work he did at Cambridge before becoming a “proper” cartoonist, which has been his life over the past forty plus years. His hour is packed with material and anecdotes, spilling the beans on some of recent history’s ghastliest political figures, and it’s all very intelligent, entertaining and insightful. I have to declare a personal interest here – Martin and I were at school together and it was great to meet up afterwards to share a couple of pints and lots of memories. How does one give a star rating to an old friend? I decided to drop him down a star just to keep him on his toes!

I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical, Gilded Balloon at the Museum.

I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical starts with a deliberately stereotypical opening number and then follows the fortunes of a stereotypical musical theatre performer, through auditions, chorus work, understudy duties then finally as a full-scale performer and then maybe, even, a diva. Alexander S Bermange’s songs are terrific pastiches of musical theatre style songs, with dozens of clever nods to well known musicals without ever actually parodying or stealing from them. The brilliant cast of Jennifer Caldwell, Sev Keoshgerian, Rhidian Marc and Julie Yammanee bring huge professionalism to the show, which has the audience in hoots of pleasure and rapturous applause throughout. A fantastic homage to the undisputed Queen of all the Arts!