Scotland On Sunday, 12 August 2007- By Johnathan Trew
One-man show Hamell On Trial also uses rock'n'roll to tell a tale. In this case, the life story of Ed Hamell, a man who has done it all so that we don't have to.A punk rock raconteur, Hamell rips the heart out of US consumerism by trolling through the degenerate underbelly which is its flipside. Street-wise, packed with great one-liners and righteous in its fury, this is surely the only show in town to feature a gag about making a homophobe smoke the ashes of an Aids victim.

Terrorism Review - 13 August 2007- Independent
If you imagine Frank Black fused with Fu Manchu, you'll get an idea of this energetic American performer, aptly boxed as a "one-man punk-folk band". Hamell's acoustic-electric compositions tear into aspects of life he's uncomfortable with, such as the sterility of fast food that one day, he sings, we won't have to eat at all – elaborate, unhealthy concoctions will just be funnelled through us.

Edinburgh Review -16 August 2007 - Chortle
Hamell doesn’t strictly class himself as a comedian, though he can be brilliant funny as he recounts his various anecdotes. But he’s just as excellent a storyteller and musician, angrily thrashing his 1937 Fender guitar through a serious of crashing, angry tracks.

Three Weeks - 19 August 2007 - Festival Highlights
This is not another edgy Fringe comedy. No, Hamell takes edgy on in the first minutes of the show, and then leaves it way behind with a song about oral sex, followed, without missing a beat, with a song about sickness, death and suicide in his own family. Not many performers could turn this material into ragingly funny comedy and rock; he takes on politics, family truth, religion and death with angry passion, bitingly caustic wit and a 'face solo' that quite simply defies words. All this and he still comes out with hope. The man may well be a genius. Obscene, outrageous and brilliant.

Metro - 12 August 2007- Festival Highlights
Billed as comedy, Hamell's Edinburgh debut is more a one-man DIY odyssey through his decade-spanning back catalogue, unapologetically righteous world view and his life experiences. Indeed, if Bill Hicks had ever tried his hand at bile-fuelled blues-punk, it might not have sounded too far removed from Halfway, a fretboard-leaping, self-deprecating rant against mediocrity.