Fringe 2023

The winners of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards which is the highest honour at the Fringe have been announced.The winner for Sky Best Comedy Show has been won by Ahir ShahUrooj Ashfaq has won the DLT Best Newcomer AwardThe Show for Gareth Richards...

In his 30th year on the Fringe, Mervyn Stutter has announced his Spirit of the Fringe Awards - the MERVs - chosen from all the genres who have performed here.This year’s winners are Horizon Showcase: Birthmarked, Ian Stone Will Make It Better, Death Suits You,...

Reviewing can be a balancing act, with actors saying they want reviews but all too often really meaning they only want good ones. Preferably five star.if you see something great, things are straightforward. But what if you see something badly acted, incomprehensible or just...

After initial microphone issues, Spicer quickly built a nice rapport with the audience and made it clear to them that they were in safe hands.His initial interactions with some of the audience members provided some laughs, though they went on for a little...

A Bloody DelightSad-Vents is not a play about making its audience feel comfortable. And maybe that’s exactly why you ought to see this tragicomedy dripping with talent this Fringe. As audiences arrive at the Underbelly’s Jersey space, the actor begins with a disclaimer of the graphic...

The Queen of Hollywood arrived in Edinburgh this week, Elizabeth Taylor.Often described as the last movie star and certainly of a certain era. Kayla Boye brings the 1961 Elizabeth Taylor back to life discussing her life so far with a biographer. Boye delivers...

One Night With Marilyn, The Voodoo Rooms, FringeThere’s a lot of audience participation in a cabaret and variety style show that brings Monroe’s bubbly fun to life.When she asks the audience how many husbands Monroe (she) had, one super-fan answers “three” with aplomb....

Spirit of Ireland features Irish dancing like never seen before, during a dance off you can literary see sparks flying from the heels of the competitors.Thick heels pounding on the floorboards are louder than any drum and are simply mesmerising. The pub landlord is...

Bricklayer Stuart Alexander has been playing a part in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe after swapping his spirit level for a guitar.The West Lothian brickie who used to perform in local venues in the late ‘80s, turned back the clock to hit the stage as...

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician, computer scientist and cryptanalyst.His work at Bletchley Park during World War Two is credited with having shortened the war by at least two years and saved the lives of 14 million people.In 1954, at the age of...

The show is something of a love letter to the Fringe and Edinburgh as a place of cultural adventure. Edward W. Feery has greatly enjoyed the Fringe  'as a performer' for the last few years, and as 'a punter' for over a decade.In...

Skinner is immediately drawn to a man in the front row with a black kilt, sparkly black jacket and cane.He proves to be something of a comic foil for Frank throughout the show and loves every minute. The 66-year-old refers back to when...

Geraldine Hickey is a popular comedian in Australia, where she won the best show award at the 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Not yet a household name but a talented comic who has put in the work over many years and whose star is...

Comic legend Eddie Izzard has helped to create a new limited-edition gin to support artists at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Izzard's collaboration with Edinburgh Gin will raise funds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society to support artists.All profits from sales of the "Edinburgh Gin Presents:...

‘Liberate yourself from the gender binary and celebrate queer joy!’ screams the flyer. And a celebration is exactly what Antonio! provides.This show is such a joy; it’s hilarious, it’s camp, it’s well acted, the script is clever, the music is great, the costumes...

This show, prompted by tragedy, is one of the 'underground' highlights of this year's Fringe. Arriving 45 mins before kick-off, it was clear that this show had built up a real buzz.Already, at least 30 people had gathered, keen to be part of...

When you see a Michelle Brasier show you can be guaranteed of two things: you will laugh and you will feel.This is the unique talent of a comedian whose act is as much an examination of the human condition as it is an...

Picture yourself at a birthday party hosted by the twins from The Shining and a collection of aggressive ghosts, where you’re forced to play “pass away the parcel” as you try to get through the event without being murdered.This is the nightmarish premise...

There’s lots of comedy and visual humour in Silent Faces Theatre Company’s Godot is a Woman, but this is a clever, slick and entertaining show which conveys a serious message.Why are people so keen to hang on to outdated ideas about gender, and what...

Tom Robinson shot to fame in the late 1970s when the (‘modestly named’) Tom Robinson Band had hits with 2-4-6-8 Motorway and Glad to Be Gay.Over 40 years later he’s still going strong, still performing and now also broadcasting on BBC Radio 6. Three...

The winner of an award made by Popcorn Group will be announced on Thursday in a ceremony at Gilded Balloon.This award is made to the best of new writing at the Fringe - championing "fearless new writing" and "distinctive unique voices" and awards a...

Poetry is an important part of Scottish heritage and the Grand Slam Final promises to be a festival highlight.It will combine fist-thumping music with rib-tickling and also reflective poetry.I Am Loud Productions are officially partnering with Edinburgh International Book Festival for the Loud...

The team of writer Joshua King and Jasmin Gleeson, the founders of Moon Rabbit theatre company, return to this year’s Fringe with another well-crafted and mesmerising one-woman show Victorine.Last year’s The Poetical Life of Philomena McGuinness told the poignant diaspora story of...

The line-up for Mervyn Stutter’s special charity gala on Monday 21 August has been announced. Mervyn’s gala celebrates three decades of Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe, the legendary showcase that presents a curated mix of Fringe picks, highlighting the Festival’s international acclaim.The choice of shows covers all genres of...

The memory of President Lincoln is widely revered – there is even statue of him in Edinburgh – but the First Lady who supported him through the Civil War is forgotten in Scotland and reviled in America.A new play, which has its international premiere...

Luminescence, a collaboration between the visual artist Maria Rud and saxophonist Tommy Smith, opened in St Giles’ Cathedral on Thursday night as part of the Fringe.It is completely improvised in the moment – Smith had no idea what he was going to play as...

The activism group Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh and Lothians are holding a Fringe talk on 22 August.The Liquid Rooms event will be led by two speakers from XR’s Edinburgh and Lothians local group, Dom and Alex Porter as part of PBH’s Free Fringe programmes.XR promote...

It’s not exactly clear if Kurt Cobain did meet Thora Hird when he appeared at BBC studios back in November 1991 just as Nirvana had become a cultural phenomenon performing Smells Like Teen Spirit On Top of the Pops.This is a fascinating piece...

Jack Docherty takes us back to Edinburgh in the 1970s to Carrick Knowe and “love across the divide” with the subject of his unrequited affection Eleanor. In many ways, David Bowie became a passport to another world. Doherty weaves the cataclysmic effect that Ziggy...

In Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra the titular heroes are undone by love. Anthony can’t keep away from Cleopatra, and she is so besotted that when she hears he’s dead, she grabs an asp and kills herself with it.Love is the theme, and never...