1000 Tiny Birds

Julia Stenton & Firuz Ozari - Wolves

Legends, 2023-08-12

Once again, a genuine delight to be going to see friends of mine at the start of their Edinburgh journeys. I’ve known Julia and Firuz a while now, and run OPPO with Firuz, so the chance to see them take on the Fringe is not to be missed. They’ve taken the approach in the split bill format of having one of them act more as an MC, and I don’t know whether they’re alternating, but tonight it was Julia’s duty to warm up the crowd, diving into the front row’s various opinions on the largest animal they reckon they could kill, no weapons. She handles a slightly lairy group of lads well, involving them without giving them too much space. Later, she returns to close the show with a tight ten, one I’ve seen before and always goes down well. But the long set tonight belongs to Firuz, and it’s fantastic to see. In Bristol, I barely ever see him repeat material, so to see him working through old favourites of mine and trying to figure out how they fit together is fascinating, not least as part of a persona that now has to be consistent across them. Big things from both, you hope, await.