The Edinburgh Fringe has been running alongside the Edinburgh Festival since 1947, and in its 66 year run, it has become one of the premiere comedy festivals in the world. No where else can you see world-famous acts for £15 or catch the Next Big Thing at their (unbeknownst to them) last free show. You can even run into your favourite comedians at the doner kebab shop from time to time.
This year, the Fringe is bigger and better than ever, and there are tonnes of great acts that you won’t want to miss. Here are just ten of the must-see acts.
1. Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle hasn’t performed a full length stand up show in 17 years, but that hasn’t stopped his set from topping many Fringe must-see lists. He is often called the godfather of alternative comedy, and though time hasn’t tempered his act, it has made him more open and thoughtful.
His show is political, satirical and can be rant-y, but what else would you expect from a master of alternative comedy?
2. Claudia O’Doherty – Pioneer
Okay, this show is a little hard to explain, but it’s worth it. Claudia O’Doherty takes on a persona based loosely on herself who will do anything to become famous, even though she doesn’t have the talent. With this character, Claudia explores the nature of easy fame as well as the egoism and delusion needed to achieve that kind of fame.
It sounds like it could be mean-spirited, but because she is laughing at a version of herself, it ends up just being really funny. It’s a kind of weird concept, but she definitely makes it work.
3. James Acaster – Lawn Mower
James Acaster is the kind of comedian who can talk about everything from Percy Pigs to skywriters and the rhyme scheme of a children’s song without irony or forced sweetness. He’s just fascinated by the little things that most of us take for granted. He doesn’t rest on his observational laurels, however. He weaves these thoughts together to take the audience on a journey that ends up mixing together Yoko Ono, a mariachi band and the Titanic.
4. Sarah Millican – Home Bird
You know who Sarah Millican is: she’s your hilarious best friend who’s just come over, put the kettle on and is having a bit of a natter with you. This show is exactly like that. In it, she turns her back on her hard partying ways, and she settles down with her cat and her mug collection.
5. John Lloyd – The Liff of QI
You may not have heard of John Lloyd, but you definitely know his comedy. He’s the producer or creator behind Blackadder, Spitting Image, QI, Not the Nine O’Clock News and much more. In this show, he takes a selective look over his career, sharing anecdotes, random facts and witty quotes from his book The Meaning of Liff (the book that assigned random place names to as-yet-unnamed emotions and phenomena). Expect a lot of laughs, insights and a great night out.
6. Aisling Bea – C’est la Bea
Aisling Bea is the Irish comedian who won last year’s So You Think You’re Funny?, and this year, she returns to much anticipation. She is excitable, silly and energetic, and she talks a mile a minute and interrupts herself with asides constantly, but she does her set with such charm that it’s hard not to enjoy yourself. Underneath the frantic pace and interruptions, there are a lot of big, bold thoughts, but the show never gets too serious or heavy.
7. Josh Widdicombe – Incidentally…
Josh Widdicombe is one of those comedians whose stand-up shows are in pretty much the same style as his TV panel appearances. If you like him in Mock the Week or The Last Leg, you’ll love his show in Edinburgh. There, he chats with audience members, riffing on their answers, and he uses props like a telephone and Swizzels Love Hearts to leap into his observational comedy. This show centres on one big, important question: what exactly is the Laughing Cow laughing at?
8. Tig Notaro – Boyish-Girl Interrupted
American Tig Notaro has a limited run at Edinburgh, but it’s at the end of the month, so you still have time to see her. Her deliberate, deadpan delivery means jokes can sneak up on the audience, so her understated style and genuinely hilarious punch lines catch people off guard in equal measure. She came to American audiences’ attention when she based a stand-up act on her cancer diagnosis, so no topics are too big for her to tackle. But because of her style, you just might not realise how serious the topic has become before you’re laughing.
9. Tim Vine – Tim Vine’s Chat Show
Back for the third year running, Tim Vine’s Chat Show is a show hosted by Tim Vine and starring the audience. Tim selects members of the audience, reasoning that “everyone has a story”, and using his gift for one-liners and puns, draws the stories out. It’s a hard show to review in a lot of ways because it’s different each night, but it is consistently sharp, witty and fun.
10. Rachel Parris – The Commission
Part of improv group Austentatious, Rachel Parris is striking out on her own this year with a solo Edinburgh show. As a part-time jingle writer, she’s handy at the keyboard, and her songs spoof everything from Disney musicals and X-Factor to R’n’B (when she sings a song about the sexiness of ankles). The show is built around the premise that Rachel is not handling the fact that her roommate moved in with her fiancé well, but the jokes and songs run through a range of topics, from the silly to the complex. Just go along and be prepared to tap your toes and have a giggle.
Those are just ten of the best of the Edinburgh Fringe. There are a lot of styles of comedy here (and there), so everyone should find something they like. So what’s your favourite kind of comedy? Who’s on your must-see list?
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