Twenty must-see comedy and variety shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023

IT’S one of the biggest events in the comedy calendar every year.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival runs annually in August in the Scottish capital, with comedy fans spoilt for choice for just over three weeks each time.

This year’s festival takes place from Friday, August 4 to Monday, August 28 and will see some big name comedy faces popular on our TV screens descend on Edinburgh.

They will be joined by hot new comedians making their Fringe debuts, as well as a whole host of variety shows too.

Here’s our pick of just some of the top talent to watch out for if you’re heading north across the border for the festival.

Comedy Debutantes

Tatty Macleod: Fugue

Following a sold-out short run at last years’ Edinburgh Fringe, a sold-out run at the Soho Theatre and a string of sold-out previews…this is an unmissable debut from Tatty Macleod who presents her brand-new show Fugue.

In some circles, she is now better known as ‘That French TikTok Lady’ having amassed over 350k followers across socials thanks to her hilarious and astute observations of French and British culture.

She asks the important questions like; Does knowing the difference between a crêpe and a galette make you French? Does eating Baked Beans in front of Coronation Street make you English?

The show is interwoven with stories of Tatty’s childhood in rural France as she tries to get to the bottom of what makes us who we are.

Venue: Monkey Barrel 4
Time: 14:10
Dates: Aug 2 – 27 (not August 15)

Darran Griffiths: Inconceivable

BBC New Comedy semi-finalist and two-time British Comedian of the Year semi-finalist, Darran Griffiths, will be making his solo Edinburgh Fringe debut with his show Inconceivable.

Having supported some of the biggest comedy names across the country (Russell Howard, Iain Stirling), Darran brings his very personal show, detailing the journey of tackling infertility and IVF to the stage. In the pursuit of becoming a dad, a better husband and (maybe) a better person, he faces battles with social norms, stereotypes, health, and masculinity.

From reading to children out loud, to having to bring your own reading materials to give a very special deposit, Darran takes the audience on a journey of experiencing rugby banter to experiencing the joys of fatherhood.

Venue: Pleasance, Bunker 1
Time: 16.45
Dates: 2– 27 (not August 14)

Freya Parker: It Ain’t Easy Being Cheeky

One half of Lazy Susan, the Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated double-act, Freya Parker will be making her solo Edinburgh Fringe debut with her stand-up show It Ain’t Easy Being Cheeky.

She is preparing to take to the stage alone and ask some of life’s big questions…Are you a little cheeky guy? Interested in the lifestyle? Come and join her as she navigates the struggles of trying to remain cheeky when it’s raining trauma. Hot topics to include death, bread and the joy of waving.

Freya is well-known for being one half of Lazy Susan, the Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated double-act, who have enjoyed sold-out runs at Leicester Square Theatre, London’s Soho Theatre and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The duo have had two series of their BBC Radio 4 show The East Coast Listening Post, and their self-titled comedy sketch series aired on BBC Three in 2022 and can be seen on BBC iPlayer.

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Baby Grand
Time: 17:50
Dates: 2 – 27(not Aug 14)

Greta Titelman: Exquisite Lies

Comedian, actor, writer and podcast host Greta Titelman will be making her debut at the Edinburgh Fringe with an intimate evening of storytelling and song, Exquisite Lies.

Knowing the only way out is through, Exquisite Lies takes a hard look at moments of love, loss and general insanity that has led Greta to answer the one question that remains a mystery; Who Am I? Between a childhood bully, a drug filled stint at boarding school, rich boyfriends and a dying mother, Greta leaves no stone unturned.

Intimate and juicy like a late night spent gossiping with your best friend, Exquisite Lies will have you hanging on every word.

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Upstairs
Time: 20:10
Dates: 4 – 28 August 2023

Laura Ramoso: Frances

Best known for her award-winning specials and satirical online videos and having amassed over 1 million followers and 350 million views across social media, online sensation Laura Ramoso, will be making her solo Edinburgh Fringe debut with her show FRANCES.

With her most popular characters making an appearance including Italian Dad, German Mom and the Three Girls Who Just Got Back From Europe, FRANCES tells a hilarious and painfully relatable story about love and loss through the best in sketch and improv comedy. From Greece to Berlin Laura presents the very best of her most viral videos in this hour long show.

Venue: Pleasance Dome, Jack Dome
Time: 20.20
Dates: 2 – 28 (not Aug 14)

Tadiwa Mahlunge: Inhibition Exhibition

One of the country’s top new comedians , Tadiwa Mahlunge, presents his debut hour questioning why he so yearningly needs to be viewed as being successful. Describing himself as having a ‘diversity hire face’, Tadiwa takes audiences on a journey from his upbringing as ‘the only black person in Wales’, to working his corporate London day job, which has the capacity to corrupt his moral compass.

At 25, Tadiwa Mahlunge has established himself as one of comedy’s hottest prospects having already been seen on BBC One, BBC Two, Dave, Comedy Central, UTV, Comic Relief and performing at major festivals and historic venues across the UK: truth be told, none of it truly enriches his spirit, it all just strokes his ego.

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two
TIME: 21:25pm
DATES: 2- 27 (not Aug 14)

Leila Navabi: Composition

Get ready for Leila Navabi’s arrival at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, where she will be making her debut with her show Composition.

The Welsh, brown, gay, Gen-Z comedian presents her debut hour: an audacious punk musical-comedy show about the dubious ethics of artistically exploiting marginalised identities for social gain. With 7 original songs written and performed by the star herself, you are in for a treat. Composition will no doubt be an hour many will remember as Leila Navabi’s breakout show, as she establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with in the comedy circuit; “The actual future of comedy”.

Venue: Pleasance, The Attic
Time: 21:45
Dates: Aug 2 – 27 (not Aug 11)

Returning Shows

Free Association: St Doctors Hospital

Critically acclaimed improv theatre company The Free Association return to Edinburgh Fringe with their brand new, fully improvised, comedic medical drama: St Doctor’s Hospital. Featuring a cast of some of the UK’s best improvisers, as seen across TV, Film and radio, and smash hit live shows Austentatious, SORRY, Do Not Adjust Your Stage, and They Seem Nice, The Free Association are preparing to save your life without you having to head to Casualty.

For the brave frontline heroes at St Doctor’s Hospital, no procedure is too convoluted, no disease is too made-up, and no relationship saga is too inappropriate for the operating theatre. Inspired by all of your favourite TV medical dramas – from Grey’s Anatomy to House to ER – as well as a few words from the audience, the daring cast will improvise a brand-new episode of your new favourite show. So sit back as they administer 50cc of lols straight to your funny bone. The Doctors will see you now.

Venue: Assembly Studio
Time: 15.15
Dates: 2 – 28 (not Aug 14)

Patrick McPherson: The Way Way Deep

Award-winning Patrick McPherson will be making an eagerly anticipated return to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe with his brand-new show, The Way Way Deep.

Having won Best Theatre Show and the Critic’s Choice Award at Perth Fringe for Colossal, Patrick is once again preparing to take audiences on a journey through spoken word, theatre, comedy and music.

Blending bold storytelling, spoken word and original music, McPherson brings his inimitable style to a new piece that follows the ecstasy and chaos of a twenty-year friendship. Moving from beautifully nostalgic to bitingly poignant, The Way Way Deep delivers an hour of unforgettable theatre.

Venue: Belly Button, Underbelly
Time: 17.20
Dates: 3 – 27 (not Aug 14)

Max & Ivan: Life, Choices

The acclaimed and award-nominated British Comedy duo, Max & Ivan, made up of Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez, return to Edinburgh this year to bring fast-paced gags and an abundance of self-mockery with their new show Life, Choices.

The ‘essential’ Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominees return with a show about fatherhood, friendship, and the future. Their sketch comedy features character-led narratives with interweaving plot lines which are not to be missed.

Max & Ivan are a globally acclaimed comedy double-act. They are creators of BBC Radio 4’s The Casebook of Max & Ivan (a BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Year), Channel 4 Comedy Blap, The Reunion, geopolitical-comedy-thriller scripted podcast Max & Ivan: Fugitives (#1 Apple Podcasts), and Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning spectacular mega-event The Wrestling (in which the world’s best comedians are transformed into pro-wrestlers, and step into the ring).

Venue: Pleasance Above
Time: 17:20
Dates: 2 – 28 (excluding Saturdays)

Choir! Choir! Choir!

Internationally renowned Choir!Choir!Choir!, founded by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, are set to grace the stage of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time with their ground-breaking show.

Choir! Choir! Choir! is a show where the crowd is the star. Every show, Nobu and Daveed create something electric with the audience – it’s comedy, it’s interactive, and it’s all about the audience. There are no auditions – show up and they’ll have you singing in harmony in no time! It is a night that sparks into something so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Founded in 2011, Choir! Choir! Choir! has amassed a dedicated and passionate community of singers and a thriving international fan base on YouTube amassing millions of views on their videos.

Venue: Underbelly, Udderbelly
Time: 17.45
Dates: 4t – 27t (not 9, 14, 15, 21)

Emmanuel Sonubi: Curriculum Vitae

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Emmanuel Sonubi will be making an eagerly anticipated return to this years Edinburgh Fringe. Emmanuel presents a whistle stop tour through all of his jobs that have led him to become one of the hottest stand-up comics on the circuit in brand new show, Emmanuel Sonubi: Curriculum Vitae.

This show takes us through the life he lead that brought him to the stage, through his work history. Recently seen on QI, Alan Davies As Yet Untitled, Apprentice ‘You’re Fired’ and headlined Live at the Apollo, Emmanuel is currently on his debut tour with hit show Emancipated.

Venue: Underbelly, The Dairy Room
Time: 18.10
Dates: 2 – 28 (Not Aug 14)

Janine Harouni: Man’Oushe

Janine Harouni will be making her eagerly awaited return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her sophomore hour Man’oushe. This is the highly anticipated second hour from ECA Best Newcomer nominee Janine Harouni who took the Edinburgh Fringe by storm in 2019. Janine thought she knew her family. Then she took a DNA test and things got messy.

The quick-witted New Yorker returns with a show that explores her Arab roots, pregnancy and what happens when your mail order DNA test does not go to plan. This is the BBC New Comedy Award winner at her finest, entertaining audiences with hilarious and, at times, moving personal stories.

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Beneath
Time: 18:20
Dates: Aug 2-13, 15-20, 22-25

Paul Foot: Dissolve

Award-winning and trail-blazing comedian Paul Foot, is back with Dissolve, a brand-new show which promises to be his most personal, surprising and inspired stand-up offering ever. Never has he been so vulnerable, honest and happy. You may ask yourself what his secret is, but you will have to hear it from the man himself.

In the year 2022 AD something momentous changed for Paul, and in this show he will reveal how he discovered the secret of life on the outskirts of Lancaster. Inevitably he does get distracted by King Tutankhamun, the House of Lords, Sir Cliff Richard, officious lollipop ladies and what Jesus might have achieved if he’d been a plumber. Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

But what happens when everything you thought was important – your problems, grievances against others, your very identity – simply disappears?

Venue: Underbelly Cowgate, Belly Dancer
Time: 19:20
Dates: 3 – 27 August (not Aug 15)

Reginald D. Hunter: The Man Who Could See Through S**t

Reginald D. Hunter will be returning to this years Edinburgh Fringe with a brand-new show, The Man Who Could See Through S*** for a limited run.

Fresh from a sell-out tour of hit show, Bombe Shuffleur, Reginald is gearing up to take audiences on a journey back in time to pre-Covid where he will dig out truths and lies and find out whats real and what’s not. In these supercharged socio-political times the challenge is more and more becoming separating what’s true and what’s real. Lucille Hunter proudly proclaimed: ‘It’s easy to see through s***, the hard part is acting like you ain’t’.

Join Reginald D. Hunter for an hour of exploring this phenomena in this progressive work in a pre next-variant world. Reginald is ready to divide and conquer Fringe audiences one again.

Venue: Assembly Rooms, Music Hall
Time: 19.55
Dates: 11 to 20 Aug

Myra Dubbois: Be Well

Following a national tour of Australia, British comedy sensation Myra DuBois will be bringing her new show Be Well to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Myra DuBois calls out to you, the disadvantaged, downtrodden and tyrannised of the world, with her manifesto for mental health: AdMyrism! But are you ready to receive the call?

Be Well is a sardonic side-eye at the Wellness Industrial Complex as Myra continues of the tradition of the likes Shirley McClean and Gwyneth Paltrow, a celebrity that knows best. Unpredictable, intelligent character comedy, the self-declared siren of South Yorkshire works the room, sparing no-one her sharp tongue, and yet somehow keeping everybody affectionately on-side.

Venue: Pleasance Dome, KingDome
Time: 20:00
Dates: 2 – 27 (not Aug 14)

Rosie Holt: That’s Politainment

After her sell-out Edinburgh show last year, Rosie returns to tight-rope the thin line between politics and entertainment with brand new show That’s Politainment!

The worse the political career, the more lucrative the subsequent entertainment opportunities. So, can Rosie Holt’s viral hit MP character follow in the footsteps of ‘politainers’ Dorries, Farage and Rees-Mogg and leap from the pages of Hansard to Heat? You will have to come along to Rosie’s political rally to find out.

A character-driven show, Rosie Holt: That’s Politainment! analyses the blend of politics and entertainment in today’s public sphere. Political-satirist Rosie Holt explores current political trends audiences will too often recognise, as she brings some much needed comic relief to them. She’s at the top of her game and this is a show not to be missed.

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Two
Time: 20:00
Dates: 2 – 27 (not Aug 15)

John Robins: Howl

Award-winning comedian, broadcaster and podcast host John Robins is returning to Edinburgh Fringe with brand-new show, Howl.

“If I thought lockdown was hard, then this last year has been an absolute pile of s***, I drove around the UK in a Kia Sportage in an attempt to get away from everything. Did it work? Did it f***. This show isn’t about mental health, this show is mental health. In all it’s rage, joy, tears, anxiety and humour. Isn’t that what comedy is? There’s even a bit where I’m pretty scathing of the disingenuous platitudes of the modern wellness industry.”

John Robins is one of his generation’s most critically acclaimed stand-ups. John followed winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly The Perrier Award) in 2017 with two sold out national tours: The Darkness of Robins and Hot Shame. John is also a recipient of the Gold Aria Award (formerly The Sony Awards) for the BBC Radio 5 Live radio show, unsurprisingly he’s one of the leading voices calling to make it illegal for awards to change their sponsor.

Venue: Just the Tonic Nucleus – Just the Tonic’s Atomic Room
Time: 20:50
Dates: 3 – 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21)

Mythos: Ragnarök

A ‘Must See Show’ of last years Fringe, Mythos: Ragnarök, will be returning to Edinburgh Fringe bringing their ground-breaking show to more audiences than ever.

This revolutionary show sees Odin and Loki in their struggle to overcome primeval giants, rival Gods and Goddesses, and each another’s ambitions in this dark comic adaption of Norse mythology.

The cast dexterously weave ancient myths, legends, and folk tales into original pieces of theatre, in a way that has never been seen before. As actors who specialise in professional wrestling, they create some of the most intense and thrilling fight scenes ever seen in a theatrical setting, which gain equal praise from lifelong wrestling fans and those with no interest in it whatsoever.

Venue: Assembly Roxy
Time: 21:20
Dates: 2 – 27 August

Adam Riches: The Guy Who… and Adam Riches: Dungeons ‘N B******s

20 years since treading the boards of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time, critically acclaimed comedian Adam Riches, will return to this year’s Fringe with not one, but two shows!

The Guys Who… is the eagerly anticipated sequel to Adam’s ground-breaking show The Guy Who…. Once again, Riches masterfully embodies the ‘nice-guy’, faux-woke, sleazy, manipulative persona that nowadays seems to be, well, everywhere. Thanks to Riches’ imperious ability to inhabit any part to a T, this character-driven comic satire will make audiences laugh and rethink about ‘the guys who’ they might have encountered (or even been!) in their lives. Fair warning: Adam Riches will not be held liable for any possible breakups that happen because of his show…

Secondly Dungeons’N B******s invites you to join Lord Sean of House Bean as he lures you deep into his dungeon lair. If this doesn’t sound ominous enough, he will then be challenging you to a series of quests, questions and quaudience “quinteractions”, in order to win the ultimate prize. Think Pat Sharp’s Funhouse meets Krull in the show TV commissioners will soon be calling ‘a hard pass’. Trigger warning – may contain triggers (of the crossbow variety).

Show: The Guys Who…
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate Cow Cafe
Time: 14:10
Dates: 3 to 27 August

Show: Dungeons ‘n B******s
Venue: Monkey Barrel 4
Time: 22:40
Dates: 17 to 27 August

Buy tickets for Edinburgh Fringe Festival shows here