Chris Coltrane, standup comedian, activist and writer, brings his new show Activism is Fun! to the Free Fringe Festival this year. Part performance, part comedy and part call for action, this is a hilarious and quirky take both on the current state of Britain and how resistance is fun, games and that little bit of political engagement that is so much needed in our time.

In the hands of Chris Coltrane and directed by humour talent Josie Long, there is wit, fun and intelligence in what would otherwise be a heavy topic. Chris in no way expects his audience to be experts or even sympathetic to the cause, but instead invites them to listen to a series of surreal anecdotes on creative resistance. Alone on stage, his performance summons images of crowds, fun and games, chaos and cacophony, and a tour de force of top hilarious moments in his activist engagement. Starting from how he became part of the UK Uncut actions, he relives a full-day adventure with us, where he ended up shutting down Vodafone for a day by sitting together with 70 activists in their doorway on Oxford Street. Heart pumping and breath short, he carries us through to his top moment: casually strolling into Dave Hartnett’s talk to leading companies and thanking them for letting Vodafone dodge its taxes. It ain’t a joke, ladies and gentlemen, and he has the video footage to prove it.

Whilst I found the first ten minutes of non-topical sexual jokes too long, the 50 minutes that followed proved my usual skepticism towards standup profoundly wrong: Chris Coltrane has convinced me intelligent standup comedy can be done – and done well indeed. Touching on activism, freedom, right to protest and to live the lives we want with integrity, he performs with humour and warmth amidst his rightful anger at the government. And with no hat for money collection at the end, Chris’ only plea is that we all stand up and fight together – because that’s the only way to win against the Tories. Laughter, however, comes free.

**** – 4/5 stars

Activism is Fun is playing at the Globe as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 26 August. For more information and tickets, see the Edinburgh Fringe website.