The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows. This year, 半岛体育 is in Edinburgh for the entire month in August for the festival and we鈥檙e taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
As of this morning on , there are 1,489 shows listed in the category of 鈥渃omedy鈥� at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Of those, 807 have the genre 鈥渟tand-up.鈥� And I have been asked to choose only 10 of those to recommend to the readers of 半岛体育.com.
How to approach this extremely daunting task? Well, here is what I鈥檝e come up with. Of the far too many hours of British comedy I have consumed on television and podcast, two of my absolute favorites are the television show Taskmaster and the Off Menu podcast. And so, looking through the list of comedians at the Fringe this year, I鈥檝e decided to choose my favorites who have appeared on one or both of those shows. And if you hadn鈥檛 heard of one or both of those before, well then you鈥檙e in for a treat.
In brief: The is a food podcast hosted by comedian friends Ed Gamble and James Acaster, where they interview celebrities鈥攆requently comedians鈥攁bout their dream meals. Ed is the ma卯tre d' and James is the genie waiter who can bring guests any food they can imagine鈥攅ven if it鈥檚 something no sane person would choose, like asking for a cheese board as your dessert course.
For the record, Gamble just finished a sold-out work-in-progress run at the Fringe, and Acaster is currently doing a brief run in Glasgow though August 16. (I went to see him on Sunday night, and what was billed as a two-hour show turned into over three hours of glorious madness. It was quite the change from the hour-long Fringe shows I've been seeing.)
Taskmaster actually began its life as a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, back in 2010. It was picked up for television five years later and has, to date, completed 15 seasons, with the 16th starting this fall. In the show, Alex Horne (the original creator of the show) plays the Taskmaster's assistant and sets a series of seemingly simple (or sometime not so simple) tasks to be completed by five different comedians each season.
Then the Taskmaster, played by comedian Greg Davies, assigns them a score from one to five. At the end of the season, the winner gets a golden trophy of the Taskmaster's head. Even if a task sounds straightforward, the contestant鈥檚 minds all work in very different ways, and the results are hilarious. If you鈥檙e outside of the U.K. and don't have Taskmaster as part of your regular television programming, full episodes of the series are available to watch on .
So, now I only have to choose from 75 Taskmaster comedians (15 seasons at 5 guests a season), and approximately 200 guests from Off Menu, which just celebrated its 200th episode last week. And of course there鈥檚 overlap鈥攖he comedy world isn鈥檛 that big after all.
And so now, after that probably far too long introduction, I present my list of 10 comedians I think are worth seeing at this year鈥檚 Fringe鈥攊n alphabetical order. One other thing to note: some of these shows have already sold out, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you won鈥檛 be able to see them. It鈥檚 always worth keeping an eye on the Fringe website to see if last-minute tickets are released (I was able to snag a ticket to Daniel Kitson鈥檚 excellent work-in-progress show, , that way).
Below are 10 comedians you should see at Fringe.
Where and when? August 21鈥�23 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淪tar of Taskmaster Munya Chawawa is heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ahead of his debut UK tour, for three work-in-progress shows. Expect brand-new material, socially relevant observations and a visit from some of his most beloved characters.鈥�
Anything else I should know? Chawawa grew up in Zimbabwe, and he鈥檚 known to tell (very long, very funny) stories about his life there. Also, I've heard he has a big following on .
Where and when? Through August 28 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淔ollowing a complete sell-out, extended national tour, star of global hit Live Innit, Taskmaster and the first British-Asian stand-up to sell-out London's Wembley Arena returns to Edinburgh for the first time in almost 10 years! Paul is out to save his reputation and become a family friendly staple鈥搇ike Ant & Dec (but not the one that drinks and drives).鈥�
Anything else I should know? In case it鈥檚 not clear from the titles, this is not actually a family-friendly show (it's listed as 14+ on the Fringe site). Chowdhry is also the host of a popular podcast, .
Where and when? Through August 27 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淎fter dismantling a barge (Taskmaster), doxxing himself in the Doubletree (Off Menu), and blanking on the 1992 Ipswich Town crest (University Challenge), Ivo ropes his audience into more chaos against the clock. 'Humiliation's your thing, right?' His brother asked him at Christmas, and with the full existential ramifications of that still being processed, he's lining up a show with more risk than ever before (NB: previous shows have broadly been quite low risk). Expect quizzes, tangents and fluster.鈥�
Anything else I should know? After choosing a frankly unacceptable dessert of yogurt with chopped banana on his episode of Off Menu, Graham was invited back to Off Menu鈥檚 livestreamed 鈥淩edemption Dinner Party鈥� where he made things even worse for himself, as referenced above in his show description. is well worth watching.
Where and when? August 15鈥�27 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淭o the hairdresser at [redacted] Salon: You can take my money. You can take my dignity. You can take too much off the ends. But you cannot take my right to talk about it every day on stage. This is a show about the worst haircut of Ania Magliano's life.鈥�
Anything else I should know? I actually went to see Magliano鈥檚 show a few nights ago at the Fringe, and it is indeed well worth seeing. Besides being about a haircut disaster, there鈥檚 also talk of gossip, relationships, boxing, a threesome (sort of), and major surgery. Looking back at that sentence, a lot of those don鈥檛 sound like very funny topics for a comedy show. But in fact, they are.
Where and when? August 16鈥�27 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淓dinburgh Comedy Award winner and creator of hit sitcom Starstruck, Rose Matafeo returns with an hour of work-in-progress stand-up. Results will vary.鈥�
Anything else I should know? If you鈥檝e not seen Matafeo鈥檚 sitcom Starstruck (available on the BBC in the U.K. and HBO in the U.S.), it鈥檚 truly worth watching. Also, Matafeo is from New Zealand and which has made her the subject of many a Taskmaster meme.
Where and when? Through August 28 at Assembly George Square
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淭he dishevelled prince of 拢10 eBay keyboards tries to make you feel alive with a new pageant of laughter, song and occasionally getting up from a chair. It's gonna be a big one.鈥�
Anything else I should know? David O'Doherty is an Irish comedian who plays a small keyboard during his sets, hence the title of his show. I went to see him at the 2022 Fringe, and it was very funny鈥攄espite being mainly about his experience during the pandemic. I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing what he does this year.
Where and when? August 18 at Underbelly, Bristo Square
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淎fter a huge U.K. tour, Sara brings her Success Story to the Fringe for one night only. After deciding to be famous at 14 years old, Sara has auditioned for Barrymore, ruined Hugh Grant's birthday and seen Salman Rushdie dancing. For balance she鈥檚 also been slagged off by Geri Halliwell and stuck in a dressing room with Nigel Farage so it鈥檚 not all glamour.鈥�
Anything else I should know? Sara Pascoe is the host of the somewhat odd show Guessable, along with John Kearns (who has already finished his run at the Fringe) and Darren Harriott (, but has been on neither Taskmaster nor Off Menu, and was therefore not eligible for this list).
Where and When? August 15鈥�27 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淔resh from her smash-hit Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre sell-out debut, Chloe Petts returns with her follow-up hour. Everyone complimented her on how polite she was with big issues in the last show so now she's cashing in those points and plans on being really rude. Expect routines on Greta Thunberg, the Queen and calling you all a bunch of virgins.鈥�
Anything else I should know? Chloe Petts was the opening act for Ed Gamble on his last tour, so I鈥檓 going out on a limb to say fans of Gamble will enjoy Petts' comedy, too.
Where and When? August 18鈥�26 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淎 kids party... but for adults. Soho Theatre's smash-hit musical comedy about two rival children's entertainers, starring Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Ghosts, Taskmaster, Stath Lets Flats) and Ed MacArthur (Bad Education, Dreamland, The Now Show). Think Amadeus meets Flight of the Conchords meets Dizzee Rascal; this is one party you won't want to miss.鈥�
Anything else I should know? Two things. One: Kiell is one of the stars of the hit BBC comedy series Ghosts. Two: He鈥檚 also doing hosting an improv show at the Fringe August 21鈥�23 at the Pleasance Courtyard. .
Where and When? August 14鈥�27 at the Pleasance Courtyard
What鈥檚 it about? 鈥淢ark Watson's 12-year-old son just got a phone. His 70-year-old dad has been through the most frightening experience of his life. Both a dad and a kid himself, around the midpoint of his life, the Taskmaster star, multiple award-winner and Fringe legend returns to consider the search for meaning that we're all on, with or without Google. There will be a lot of jokes.鈥�
Anything else I should know? Mark Watson is another comedian I saw last year, who I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing again. He also produces up-and-coming comedians at the Fringe every year as part of Impatient Productions. If you haven鈥檛 found enough to see on this list, why not go see one of them? You can see. Also, even though he鈥檚 never been on the Off Menu podcast, every week when the producer posts a clue about who the next guest will be, there are always a few people who guess it will be Mark Watson. Will he ever get to eat in the dream restaurant? I sure hope so!
