Edinburgh’s annual arts festival and its fringe events runs from 1st to 25th August 2025. [Note: Some of the comedy starts a tad earlier at the end of July].
Here we preview some fabulously funny comedy across this year’s festival in various venues across the city. From household names to those making their Edinburgh festival debut – including comedians coming in from overseas including the US.
Catch some of tomorrow’s stars of comedy and the stars of today.
In no particular order, here is our selection of the best stand-ups appearing in Edinburgh this summer festival season…
Show & Tell in association with PARKAS and Independent Talent Group
ALISON SPITTLE
Title of Show: Alison Spittle: Big
Venue: Monkey Barrel 1
Time: 4.45pm
Dates: 29th July – 24th August (not 12th)
Alison Spittle returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with her new show ‘Big’. The Irish comedian and award-winning screenwriter will be at the Monkey Barrel 1 for the entire festival.
It was a big year for Alison Spittle; winning ‘Pointless’, almost dying… now she’s doing stand up about sitting down. This is a true story of Alison’s life-threatening reason for her weight-loss journey.
After an encounter on a train with a man triggers a series of events that change Alison’s life, she ponders if it’s easier to change herself than the world around her. This is a big show about making yourself smaller.
Alison talks about her experience as a working class fat girl, and her attempts to become middle class and mid-sized. She misses less trains, fits on more rollercoasters and strangers are nice to her now, but can she enjoy it when she feels so protective of the person she was a year ago? This is a show about Alison realising she doesn’t hate herself while online shopping for Ozempic. Alison says “I love being fat. I was sad when Adele lost weight and I’m keeping a close eye on Lizzo”. This is an extremely funny but emotional show about the last 12 months of her life.
Her 2023 show ‘Soup’ had a full sell out fringe run and toured the UK and Ireland. Her 2022 show ‘Wet’ was one of British Comedy Guide’s best reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and went on to tour around UK and Ireland including Soho Theatre in London.
As seen and heard on Pointless Celebrities, Richard Osman’s House of Games, Celebrity Gogglebox, Eastenders, Off Menu and BBC New Comedy Awards. Tour support for Fern Brady.
Alison is co-creator and co-presenter of the BBC sounds podcast ‘Wheel of Misfortune’ with Kerry Katona, is a regular co-host of ‘The Guilty Feminist’ and had her own hugely successful vehicle ‘The Alison Spittle Show’. Her BBC Radio 4 series ‘Petty Please’ aired from December 2024. Writer, creator and actor in her own sitcom ‘Nowhere Fast’ (RTE, BBC America, Stan Australia).
She wrote and starred in ‘Alison Spittle in Ireland’; a short film produced by Baby Cow Productions for Sky. Her first play, ‘Starlet’ picked up five stars from The Sunday Times and her second play ‘Glacier’ ran at Old Fire Station Oxford with four stars from The Stage.
Spittle’s stand-up shows have enjoyed several sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, Glasgow comedy festival and Machynlleth among others. She has performed at numerous festivals including the Vodafone Comedy Festival at the Iveagh Gardens, Body & Soul, Electric Picnic and Kilkenny Cat Laughs as well as headlining her own sold-out shows at Vicar Street.
DR BENJI WATERHOUSE
SUNDAY TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR & COMEDY AWARD WINNER
Title of Show: Dr Benji Waterhouse: Maddening
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Beneath
Time: 5.00pm
Dates: 1st – 24th August (not 9th & 18th)
Previews: 30th & 31ST July
NHS psychiatrist, award-winning comedian and Sunday Times best-selling author Dr Benji Waterhouse returns to the Pleasance Courtyard with his second comedy hour entitled ‘Maddening’.
‘Maddening’ will see Benji share stories from his best-selling book – alongside some brand-new ones. From luckily saving someone’s life by needing a pee (he found a noose in the bathroom), to accidentally prescribing a manic patient cannabis (they actually got better), and one unforgettable tale involving a foreign object and a penis (and they weren’t even unwell), Benji wonders if he should have picked a simpler speciality? At least in dermatology no one is ever involuntarily moisturised.
Expect Google reviews of psychiatric hospitals, health advice from Alexa and with no time for a lunch break, an ungodly number of crème caramels. This is a show about finding humour in the darkest places, seeing the people beneath the labels, and clinging to hope – even when your speciality lacks staff, beds, and any actual cures.
Dr Benji Waterhouse is a front-line NHS doctor specialising in psychiatry based in London. His first book ‘You Don’t Have To Be Mad To Work Here’, was acquired by Penguin in a nine-way auction and published last year to much critical acclaim. It was an instant Sunday Times best-seller, optioned for television by BBC Studio’s owned House Productions, and prompted a national book tour in association with Live Nation and the charity CALM.
He has written for the Guardian and Independent and was included in a list of ‘Inspiring Psychiatrists’ by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has a special interest in psychedelic research and worked on the ground-breaking study featured in the BBC documentary ‘The Psychedelic Drug Trial’.
As a comedian he first made a splash in 2014 winning Beat the Frog World Series when he was also a finalist in So You Think You’re Funny, Leicester Square New Act and he has twice been shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Award. He is also a resident host for the international storytelling night The Moth in London.
Blue Book Artist Management proudly presents:
HAL CRUTTENDEN
Show Title: Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Cabaret Bar
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 12th)
Previews: 30th & 31st July
Time: 9.30pm
Hal Cruttenden is making a welcome return to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with a brand-new show. Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It makes its worldwide premiere at the prestigious Pleasance Courtyard, Cabaret Bar.
In his last show Hal discussed the devastation of his divorce – after 20 years of marriage his wife left him for a firearms officer (that is, the total opposite of Hal). Now, three years on, he talks about that loss of security in his life; instead of celebrating his silver wedding anniversary and giving his grown-up kids advice on the ups and down of their relationships, he’s on dating apps and his kids are advising him. It prompts the question, is it okay to be having more fun now in your 50s than you did in your 20s?
Hal may be alone, but he’s not lonely. He’s found, much to his (and his ex-wife’s) surprise, that some women still find him attractive. He’s dating again and, although nearly 25 years have passed since he was last ‘on the scene’, he can be just as neurotic, immature, thoughtless, and naive as he was in his 20s. There’s even more passion in his life now than there was back then, but it’s all done with the lights off, as our bodies aren’t what they were.
What does the future hold? Will he settle down again or drift into old age as the sad old man who never holds a relationship together? He joked with his daughter that he could even end up having another child. She replied: ‘I don’t think you’re ready to be a Dad.’
While Hal’s personal life may be chaotic, it has catapulted him into the form of his life as a comedian. With his trademark hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners comedy (that’s what Hal told me to write), this show also sees him pontificating on social media, the insanity of modern politics and the fact that his daughters love him but don’t respect him. He believes that after you’ve seen the show you’ll feel exactly the same. And he has a knack for roasting couples in the audience, although somehow the joke is always on him.
Hal has recently started a podcast with Ronni Ancona called ‘Hal and Ronni in Pieces’ that will feature major guests that include Sally Phillips, Jo Brand & Sadie Frost. He will be doing two live shows at the Fringe on the 21st and 22nd at the Gilded Balloon.
Earlier this year it was announced that Hal will play Winston Churchill in ‘The Man With A Plan’, a new film about William Beveridge due to be released this autumn and starring Simon Callow.
His last tour was extended four times and he’s one of a select number of comics to have done Live at the Apollo three times and the Royal Variety twice, TV also includes Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You, The Apprentice You’re Fired and Bake Off Extra Slice. He’s written and starred in his own sitcom, ‘Hal’ on Radio 4. Hal’s stand-up shows, ‘It’s Best You Hear It From Me’, ‘Tough Luvvie’, ’Chubster’ and ‘Straight Outta Cruttenden’ are available on Amazon Prime.
PBJ proudly present:
JAMIE D’SOUZA
Title of Show: Jamie D’Souza: Brownie
Venue: Monkey Barrel – Cabaret Voltaire 2
Time: 10.00pm
Dates: 29th July – 24th August
Jamie D’Souza returns for his second ever stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe for the full run, this time to the Monkey Barrel, with his brand-new show ‘Brownie‘. In the show Jamie talks about marriage, being mixed race (he is Swiss/Indian), his struggle with bulimia, accidentally giving his dog MDMA and living with his very promiscuous gay housemate.
He has worked as a stand up for the past 8 years but also has a full-time job as a data analyst! He makes this look easy, but people wonder how he has managed to balance two demanding jobs, but the answer is quite simple – he was half arsed about one of them!… He’s an expert at procrastinating, getting out of work and delegating tasks. He does the bare minimum whilst simultaneously convincing his boss that he’s flat out! He’s not lazy though, he likes to utilise his time properly like pulling a sickie three years in a row to visit London Zoo when it’s quiet…
Jamie works mostly from home and lives with his best friend Tom, and landlord, who enjoys an activity he calls anonymous sex, where he matches with someone on Grindr, leaves the door open, they come in and sleep with him…. This makes an interesting household!
Jamie D’Souza is a stand-up comedian and writer, his credits include Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Mock The Week and viral online sensation Uncle Roger. As well as writing, he is also an adept stand-up comedian, blending a mixture of one liners, stories and observations.
He has also performed on The Stand-Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Comedy Central Presents (Comedy Central), BBC Asian Network, BBC Laugh Lessons (BBC3) and BBC Radio 4. He has provided tour support for Simon Amstell, Colin Hoult, Helen Bauer & Nish Kumar He was a finalist in the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny in 2017, as well as New Comedian Of The Year 2019. He was also nominated for the BBC New Comedian Of The Year competition in 2019.
Impatient Productions in association with Dawn Sedgwick Management proudly present:
MARY O’ CONNELL
Directed by BBC New Comedy Award Winner Heidi Regan
Title of Show: Mary O’Connell: Dilly Dally
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – The Attic
Time: 7.15pm
Dates: 30th July – 25th August (not 11th)
Previews: 30th – 31st July
After her incredible award-winning critically acclaimed debut show ‘Money Princess’ in 2023, Mary O’Connell is back with her second hour entitled ‘Dilly Dally’ to the Pleasance Courtyard for the whole run. Her hotly anticipated new show has been directed by BBC New Comedy Award winner Heidi Regan. Mary’s performance style is a mix of observational annoyance combined with a left-field view of the world that makes for hilarious and often absurd material.
Mary doesn’t feel like a grownup. She’s at engaged age, NOT marriage age; there’s a difference! She feels even less like a grown-up because she lives with her parents and also her boyfriend…in the same house…alongside her brother and sister. Mary has decided that her boyfriend is ‘the one’, but before they can start their big life together in their own flat, they have to live with both sets of parents for 6 months…. ‘Dilly Dally’ is a show about childhood, being the eldest daughter, and figuring out how to create a new family whilst still living with your old one.
After growing up in the city, it shows, Mary’s impatient: she walks fast, and doesn’t mind that she hasn’t looked up and seen stars since she was 11 when she was on a school trip to Wales. Mary’s boyfriend grew up in the countryside and it really shows as he hasn’t quite figured out a skilful way to weave through a bunch of people unless Mary is holding his hand! She’s a Capricorn, he’s a Cancer, they’re two sides of the same coin, they’re in love and it’s perfect, or at least those first few months of dating were.
When Mary’s boyfriend got to see her out in the real world, as a capable adult, he moved in with her and her family but then suddenly realised she was just a child. Mary didn’t realise how exposing it would feel for the love of her life to see where the sauce is made, and it made Mary start to question the ingredients in the sauce. The family she thought was normal and stable and only slightly dysfunctional in a funny way, not a concerning way, was now being seen through the eyes of her imposter boyfriend.
Mary also has to deal with the fact that her cooler, younger, Gen Z sister is getting married before her. Albeit she’s getting married to herself in a ceremony in their garden but the significance of the ritual is not lost on Mary. She’s terrified of the future and feels like she’s failing miserably at adulthood, whereas her sister laughs in the face of grown-up partnerships – like being married to an actual other person – and has decided in an act of self-love to do it alone.
As the eldest daughter in an interracial family, Mary has always felt pressure to do well at school and be successful in life, but right now she feels like a failure. In this show we explore two generations of interracial couples living in the same house and the sorts of culture clashes that are bound to happen.
Her TV stand up credits include Comedy Central Live Series 1, 2 & 3, Stand Up for Live Comedy (BBC3) and OF TV Comedy Creative Fund. Sketch wise she can be seen on
Hack Attack – Funny Parts (YouTube shorts), Comedy Confessions – Get Pulped (YouTube shorts) and Laugh Lessons (BBC3). She has also written for The Emily Atack Show (ITV2) and The Now Show (R4).
NARIN OZ
Title of Show: Narin Oz: Inner Child(ish)
Venue: Just The Tonic – Mash House – Just The Attic
Time: 4pm
Dates: 31st July – 24th August (not 12th)
Previews: 31st July & 1st August
Narin Oz makes a welcome return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her brand-new show ‘Inner Child(ish)’ at the Just The Tonic Mash House for the month. Narin mixes clowning with buffoonery – think Monty Python crossed with a working-class Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous, without a narrative!
With soaring accommodation prices at the Fringe, Narin has decided she will be camping in a tent for the duration to reduce her costs! She in fact loves nature and has developed an obsession for ducks and birds, enjoying impersonating them! She once did clowning in nature, where she had an autistic meltdown that changed her life forever.
‘Inner Child(ish)’ is a true account of Narin’s attempt to reconnect with her inner child, a survival show set inside her imagination. Created by Narin Özenci, her alter ego Narin Oz is a misbehaving, rule breaking prank loving being who enjoys nothing more than taking reality and flipping it on its head. She enjoys challenging the status quo, messing with social order and enjoying the chaos! Many of her shows are known to be visually cartoonish and visceral whilst being absurdly deadpan. Her surreal show is presented how her brain functions best, in images and thus it’s presented physically with a few words sprinkled around it.
Oz has rediscovered her self-worth by going on an inner journey of discovery, reenacting scenes from the castaway movie in her flat. She introduces the hippocampus, along with three other parts of her brain which are responsible for continuously creating intrusive thoughts, inappropriate images and cognitive delay. What’s even more irritating is the cluelessness about social situations and the shutdown it experiences after getting very alarmed when there’s too much stimulus. The trio are responsible for the all the mishaps in her life! Narin’s brain keeps pranking her continuously, like a dog that doesn’t want to go for that walk. Welcome to autism!
Narin Oz is not good at real life. Simple things neurotypical people are great at: being indirect, insensitive to stimuli, compulsively socialising and talking without purpose. She also gets herself into a lot of trouble repeatedly missing social cues! So, she has decided to fix the problem by avoiding reality altogether: hiding inside her imagination. Isn’t this what everyone does in their 40s?
Forty is the age when life starts, and thus begins the mid-life crisis. She still feels like an over excited clueless child alien trapped in a sexy Turkish Cypriot adult body waiting to burst out. A problem when going out on dates, because many men are expecting Jennifer Lopez when they are really getting Mr Bean. A final failed relationship forces her to reflect on her life and she realises how much time she wasted trying to please others. She has always attempted to keep up with other people’s pace, when she actually feels like Trigger from Only Fools and Horses a lot of the time!
Finally, she is ready to take on the real world by keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds. By making peace with herself she has learnt to be compassionate towards neurotypical people. Is she finally ready to step outside her flat to socialize?
Narin Özenci was born in Romford Essex to a Turkish Cypriot family as a second-generation immigrant. During university she was screened for autism and discovered the clowning group ‘Ridiculusmus’. Inspired, she entered a TV writing competition and won a place in the Edinburgh International TV festival 2003. During a networking event she was laughed at by a group of girls in the bathroom for not wearing party clothes or make up. After ranting about it to the comedian John Ryan he advised Oz to do stand-up comedy.
She takes his advice and starts gigging integrating comedy into her degree. Finally graduating from Aberystwyth University with a BA (Hons) in Performance with Film and TV.
In 2016 she received her first major acting and writing credit for Girls Go Trolling (Channel 4 Online) and made guest appearances in Hooligan Legacy (2016), Finding Fatimah (2017) and Man Like Mobeen (2018). In 2014 Narin took her first comedy show to the Edinburgh Fringe, a physical comedy prank show called, ‘Addicted To Love’. She was voted as one of the top ten loonies in Chortle and was interviewed by Mark Watson for BBC2’s Edinburgh Nights.
Blue Book Artist Management proudly presents:
RIA LINA
Show Title: Ria Lina: Riabellion
Venue: Monkey Barrel – Cabaret Voltaire
Dates: 28th July – 24th August (14th & 21st)
Time: 2.25pm
Filipina comedian, actress and writer, Ria Lina makes a welcome return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her first full run in 9 years! The recently named ‘Hottest Comedians You Should Be Watching Now’ by the Evening Standard, will be bringing her new show ‘Riabellion’ to the Monkey Barrel. She has also been listed as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipinos in the world 2025 by TOFA, whose awards are in Las Vegas in October.
From Have I Got News For You, Mock the Week, News Quiz, Live at the Apollo, Pointless and more, Ria is a force in the world of comedy and entertainment. Expect a relentless stream of hilarity as Ria explores the delight of throwing life up in the air after years of following the rules.
Ria has finally realised that she is ready to rebel as she hates the world… It doesn’t work for her and none of it makes sense. Why do we do all the things we do? It’s illogical! One of the first comedians ever to talk about autism as far back as 2013, 10 plus years on she finally feels that she can ask for things to be done her way. Though, despite being allowed to ask for access needs, she feels strongly that it should be an even playing field. Everyone has issues! Why should she be so special? So life sucks a little bit for everyone? What a surprise!
Riabellion explores the idea of individuality vs conformity and intelligence vs stupidity through Ria’s (autistic) lense. We are in an age of celebrating the individual but at the same time the world doesn’t work for anyone right now. Perhaps now, at the height of celebrating our individual differences Ria wonders if it’s time to conform in order to make the progress we SHOULD be making as a society.
She is the only Filipina comedian in British stand up and has a BSc in Experimental Pathology, an MSc in Forensic Science and a PhD in Virology under her belt, so it’s not only Ria’s comedy that’s highly intelligent. A regular pundit on Sky News, BBC News, Times Radio and TalkRadio, Ria is in demand for her scientific insight, confident delivery and biting wit.
Ria’s many TV and Radio appearances includes QI, Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, Pointless, The News Quiz, Worlds Most Dangerous Roads, Brain Reaction, The Now Show, Mock The Week, and she recently filmed episodes of Bridge of Lies and Blankety Blank which are airing later this year. She can also be heard on her forthcoming R4 series Ria Lina Gets Forensic. As an actor Ria has performed in Lovestruck High, East Mode with Nigel Ng and worked with Director Sam Esmail on a movie for Warner Brothers.
Throughout her stand-up career Ria has taken five shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her work tackling topics such as topical news, racial identity, political correctness, and parenthood. Her career stretches from stage and screen, to radio and the occasional ukulele – all in a unique style.
A prolific writer, Ria has written for the Ladyboys of Bangkok ‘Fantasy & Feathers’ and ‘Glamorous Amorous’ tours. She has also written and presented her own Channel 4 documentary that revealed the truth behind the myths that surround East Asian women in Britain.
SUSAN HARRISON
Title of Show: Susan Harrison: Should I Still Be Doing This?
Directed by Ben Target
Venue: Gilded Balloon – Appleton Tower – Pip
Time: 7.40pm
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 12th or 18th)
Susan Harrison returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with her new character comedy show ‘Should I Still Be Doing This? to the Gilded Balloon Appleton Tower for the entire fringe. This is her 6th solo show, but she has performed numerous times at the festival as a permanent cast member of Showstopper and with Mischief Movie Night.
Susan is now in her 40’s and although she doesn’t have kids or a mortgage she does have a lot of props and costumes… In this multiple character show we meet a host of characters, all of whom are female and are living life a little bit differently.
Susan trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her acting credits include shows for the National Theatre, Soho Theatre, Barbican, National Theatre of Scotland and Mischief Theatre on the West End.
Susan has taken 5 shows to the Edinburgh Fringe to great reviews. She won a Three Weeks Editor’s Choice award for her show Creatures, which was picked up by Princess Productions to be developed into a TV taster. Susan’s Edinburgh Fringe show Folken Britain was seen by CBBC producers who invited her to join CBBC sketch show DNN in which she wrote & performed her own weekly segment. Following this, she was a series regular in BAFTA winning CBBC show Class Dismissed for two series. She is also an online character comedian (going viral several times) perhaps best known for her portrayal of Liz Truss, but also for her video of Mary Wollstonecraft’s ghost, amongst others.
In 2024 Susan and her writing partner Lucy Trodd (Susan is 4ft 11 and Lucy 6ft 2 – they bonded over their unusual heights) were commissioned for BBC Radio 4 to write and perform in “Hopping” a sitcom pilot about hop-pickers in Kent which they are now developing for screen. Also, for BBC Radio 4 she was in the cast for Gemma Arrowsmith’s Emergency Broadcast and appeared in The Simon Day Show.
Susan is a regular podcast guest, most notably appearing on the cult favourite Beef and Dairy Network Podcast several times, including on the iconic Ted Danson episode – starring Ted Danson. She has starred in several productions for Big Finish in the Dr Who Universe, and most recently recorded an episode of The Paternoster Gang.
She is a longstanding member of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical and was part of the West End cast when the company won an Olivier Award in 2016. She has regularly performed in Mischief Theatre’s hugely popular Mischief Movie Night and Mischief Movie Night In, and as a highly sought-after improviser has also guested with shows including the Comedy Store Players, Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show, Austentatious and The Noise Next Door.
TIFF STEVENSON
Title of Show: Tiff Stevenson: Post-Coital
Venue: Monkey Barrel: Hive 1
Time: 2.50pm
Dates: 1st – 24th August
Previews: 30th & 31st July
Tiff Stevenson is back with a brand-new show filled with all those thoughts that creep in after sex…. The show, ‘Post-Coital’, premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe’s Monkey Barrel for the entire festival.
In ‘Post-Coital’ she weaves in modern day politics, positing that the UK economy is on Ozempic, because its shrinking, with tales of being a woman in her 40’s wondering about space feminism and which of the aliens she will end up starting a business with. When her husband take his final form as an Umarell ? What is an Umarell ?
She wants to know why is every hobby monetised now and how many more people will post their amateur pole dancing videos? What’s the difference between exploitation and empowerment? Is it always class related ? How does she deal with being a step parent to a teenage boy and a daughter/parent to a dad in the throes of dementia?
Maybe the UN should only meet after everyone has got laid, that’s the best idea for world peace. She has great suggestions on how to achieve this too, starting with who should really be in the army! She also argues why we need to start being mean to nerds again, explains what entrainment is and why do we all have hero/victim complexes.
She’ll ponder on how long must she stay sexy , whether she’s really this angry or it’s just the perimenopause? And what does all of this have to do with quantum physics and testicles? And finally and most importantly whether or not she will she make it onto the much coveted 2025 celebrity bunions list. Packed with laughter from start to finish with jokes that has landed her on the best reviewed at the fringe list 5 times already!
Tiff Stevenson is an internationally acclaimed actor, comedian and writer. As a comic she is known as one of the rare female regulars on BBC’s ‘Mock The Week’. She was also the first British female comic to become a correspondent on a satirical show when she joined Logie winning Australian series ‘The Weekly’. She has appeared on shows that include ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’, ‘House Of Games’, ‘Drunk History’ & ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’. She is also known to podcast listeners in her capacity as regular guest on Andy Zaltzman & John Oliver’s satirical podcast ‘The Bugle’.
As an actor she is best known for her roles as a series regular on 5 seasons of the BAFTA winning ‘People Just Do Nothing’ (BBC/NETFLIX) and two seasons of ‘Game Face’ (Channel 4/Hulu). She has also guest starred on shows including ‘The Office’ (BBC), ‘White Gold’ (BBC), ‘The Cockfield’s’ (UK GOLD) & ‘Footballer Wives’ (ITV2). Last year Tiff made her US film debut in the comedy horror ‘Slotherhouse’, now streaming on Hulu and Paramount Plus as well as guest starring in Nomadical Pictures feature ‘I’m Not You’ alongside Harry Still and Tom Wisdom. On stage she played the lead role of Linda MacArthur in the European premiere of Eric Bogosian’s seminal play ‘Talk Radio’ alongside Stewart Lee & Mike McShane at the Edinburgh Festival.
Her writing credits include two series as staff writer on the Armando Iannucci helmed HBO comedy series ‘AVENUE 5’. Tiff has also been commissioned by The Guardian, Mashable, Huffington Post, Independent, The Herald, Sunday Times and I paper for satirical and opinion pieces.
As a stand-up Tiff has performed multiple times at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 5 of her solo shows have landed in the ‘Top 20 Best Reviewed’. She has toured in the US and has appeared at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and the Melbourne International Festival.
In 2024 Tiff was invited to host and do a talk at the Ted X event in Soho. She also began motion capture as a new character on a new computer game being launched in 2025 that’s currently NDA.
COMEDY DEBUTS
Pierrot Productions proudly presents: DEBUT
ALEX STRINGER
Show Title: Alex Stringer: Happy Hour
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker 3
Dates: 30th July – 24th August
Previews: 30th & 31st July
Time: 6.00pm
Introducing rising star Alex Stringer who makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut this year with her show ‘Happy Hour’. The Liverpudlian will be at the Pleasance Courtyard Bunker 3 for the entire festival.
Since 2019, Alex has stormed the comedy scene & has one of the most exciting, unique new voices within the industry. Alex got sober in 2017 at 23 years old. Now 8 years sober and a stand-up comedian, Alex talks being a flawed, non-boring, complicated sober person and invites her audience to come and spend a ‘happy hour’ with her.
In ‘Happy Hour’, Alex takes the audience on a journey, from her wild drinking days, wanting to kill herself (due to the alcohol stopping working), an admission to rehab and who she is now that she’s sober. Alex recalls one of her drinking memories when she was sick in a taxi, but the taxi driver, out of shock, put the windscreen wipers on. Who was the real loser she thought? Still Alex.
She discusses how she bravely went to the GP to begin to get help for her suicidality to be met with, the student doctor – what fun! And how she struggled to be honest about her mental illness due to her friend who had recently also been honest about her mental health, as if someone could steal someone else’s depression thunder?
Rehab wasn’t anything like Alex expected, there was an activities coordinator who made them play bingo, but they couldn’t say “line” due to it being insensitive to cocaine addicts. Instead, they had to say “a horizontal sequence of numbers” no one asked the real question – why not just “bingo!”?
She is unafraid to talk about self-harm, being bad at doing the self-harming and her stays in a psych ward, but she does so with a light touch. Someone even escaped when she was in there! To Costa del Doncaster.
Alex thought she would be what social media tells you sober people look like. She does not. She rejects the idea of cold-water swimming, and she doesn’t like the term soft drinks. She has thoughts and feelings that sometimes feel quite ugly and mean but they’re true. That must count for something! The opposite of addiction is connection she is told and so she has to be honest about who she is.
So, she will continue to believe that people who text into radio stations belong on a register. She will poke fun at her mum who is a “live laugh love” mum. And she will regale you with her dating horror stories. Because she’s not 23, and she’s learning to be 31. She’s learning what makes her tick & when she started doing stand-up at two years sober, she didn’t realise that in stand-up comedy, where opinion is king, this new hobby/job would help her on her journey of self-discovery and how wonderful that is.
The show aims to shed a spotlight too on society’s obsession with binge-drinking culture, what addiction looks like in young people and how chances for rehabilitation are even slimmer now than when Alex got sober. ‘Happy Hour’ tells one woman’s hilarious tale of drinking of getting sober & finally realising who she is, warts and all.
RBM in association with Framework Entertainment proudly presents: DEBUT
BRITT MIGS
Show Title: Britt Migs – Dolphin Mode
Venue: Underbelly – Buttercup – George Square (New Location)
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 2.15pm
Introducing US stand up Britt Migs, who debuts at this year’s Fringe with her show ‘Dolphin Mode’ and to the Underbelly George Square for the entire festival. ‘Dolphin Mode’ premiered last year to a sold-out audience at Caveat in New York and went on to sell out The Second City Blackbox (as part of the New York Comedy Festival) as well as the Knockouts Comedy Festival in March this year.
The New Yorker went through a unique and comically bad divorce…that all started on Super Bowl Sunday. During that fateful weekend, Britt not only lost her job on the Friday
but began getting a divorce on the Sunday. Britt gets into the gory details of her divorce that includes multiple incidents of cheating, but one that really stood out – her ex-husband being extorted by a sex bot on Instagram! She wishes she was making that up! Unfortunately, it’s as real as the seven hundred dollar iTunes gift card he sent the bot.
Did her ex-husband’s friends help him out? Of course they did! They told him that he should throw out his phone and cancel his credit cards…. Little did they know, this would be the catalyst that tipped Britt off to the whole scandal. But that was just the last straw, Britt explains that another time, her ex-husband was caught procuring a sex worker “for a friend.” Right, right, haven’t we all?
As Britt dives into her own childhood and her parents’ divorce which gives her a vision of the future: the hope of another completely messed up relationship. At least her parents have stopped pressuring her to have kids, which is good, even if all her friends are on their second or third kid, because Britt’s too busy raising all the men in her life!
Upon re-entering the dating world, Britt is bombarded by a slew of men in her newly-single DMs asking her out in the most deranged ways possible. Nothing says love like strangers on the internet threatening to kill you. Well, surely it’ll be better in person? Ehh, Britt’s a little rusty and she realises dating in your 30s looks a little different than dating in your 20s. After a few dating mishaps, including scaring off an Australian man and shaving her body smooth like a dolphin only to have her date cancel on her, Britt realises how grateful she is to not just be dating men.
For most of Britt’s life she thought she was totally straight, even though there were some big, glaring signs…like the Victoria’s Secret catalogues she hid under her bed as a kid. Upon exploration, she settled on the “bisexual” label, although it still took her family some convincing. Just as she began navigating the waters of gay dating, she found love. But that meant family, friends and her neighbours had to adjust to her not being with a guy…
Britt takes you on her rollercoaster (or should we say jetski) ride of a journey. She hits speed bumps like heartbreak, dating, dealing with feral men in her dms, and having to come out a second time to family and friends. But then you’ll glide through smoother waters like her beautiful new queer life! If you’re single, dating, straight, gay, if you’ve ever gone through a breakup, ever been cheated on, or been scammed by a bot on Instagram…this is the show for you!
Britt Migs is a standup & sketch comedian living and working in NYC. In 2024, New York Comedy Festival named her a “Creator to Watch.” She has a bi-monthly show at Union Hall called “Sunday Sauce”. She has written for Reductress, FlexxMag, Slackjaw, The Take, and many others. Her digital work is on Cracked’s Instagram and TikTok. By day, Britt works as an Emmy award-winning TV & digital producer. When she’s not doing all of that you can find her watching horror movies with her cat, Tony Soprano.
Blue Book Artist Management proudly presents: DEBUT
DIONA DOHERTY
Show Title: Diona Doherty: Get Your Pink Back!
Venue: Monkey Barrel 2
Dates: 28th July – 24th August (not 6th or 13th)
Time: 2.55pm
Derry’s Diona Doherty makes her Edinburgh Fringe Festival stand-up debut this year with her show ‘Get Your Pink Back!’ As a comedian, actress and writer Diona is already making waves in the entertainment world. She is currently filming a role in the new series of the hit BBC TV police drama ‘Blue Lights’; was previously featured in an episode of Derry Girls and has written and produced a number of plays at The Belfast Opera House.
Last year Diona saw a video online explaining how when flamingos have babies both parents lose their colour pink and drain to a pale white. As their babies get bigger and more independent, those flamingos get their pink back. After comparing herself to the flamingo, when all she did was work and parent, she had a lightbulb moment. Diona has lost her pink (we called it ‘mojo’ before the internet). She’s pretty certain her kids are hiding it. Along with her abs. In her debut hour she’s on a mission to get it back reclaim her identity and prove that she can still have fun. As long as that fun ends by 9pm.
In her quest Diona decided to take up some hobbies, she joined a choir, took Zumba and self-defense classes, started playing Kerby again and even went to a silent retreat, here she also reflected her experiences on post-natal depression and her journey with infertility and IVF. Did she get her pink back?
Four years ago, Diona joined the long running BBC panel show The Blame Game on BBC One N.I as the only permanent female panelist. She has performed on and hosted Secrets of the Circuit (ITVX) and returned to the BBC New Comedy Awards competition as a judge 2 years after being shortlisted to the N.I final of The BBC New Comedy Awards (BBC3). She has also guested on Radio 4’s The News Quiz, BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking The News, The United Thingdom and is a regular on the Hugo Rifkind Times radio show.
She guest led an episode of Derry Girls for Ch4/Netflix as KATYA, played one of the leads in three series of BBC improvised comedy Soft Border Patrol and is a reoccurring character Grainne in BBC’s Give My Head Peace. Diona also played the lead in BBC Sounds series What Happens In Ulster, was a lead cast member in 9 seasons of radio series A Perforated Ulster, as well as appearing in Penance for Ch5, and new comedy pilot Dry Your Eyes for BBC. Diona has written short BBC film Sh*t Stepmum, a thirty-minute radio episode of What Happens In Ulster and audio play Dani Dives In for The Mac Theatre Belfast.
Diona has had several theatre commissions. Her debut play Bridesmaids Of Northern Ireland sold out 21 dates in theatres around N.I including a week at the Grand Opera House Belfast and was the first debut play to open on the main stage. Last year her one-woman dark comedy play ‘Sunny Side Up’ (written by and starring her) ran at the Lyric Belfast to rave reviews. She has also co-written and produced the adult Christmas shows for the Grand Opera House theatre Belfast for the past 4 years and for the Waterfront Hall Belfast in 2021.
In 2005 she appeared on Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model and was judged by Elle MacPherson who said that Diona was “not her cup of tea!”.
AEG in association with CAA & Authentic Management proudly presents: DEBUT
DYLAN ADLER
Show Title: Dylan Adler: Haus of Dy-lan
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Beside
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 7.30pm
Introducing Japanese and Jewish comedian Dylan Adler who makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut at the Pleasance Courtyard for the entire festival. His show ‘Haus of Dy-lan’ is an hour of high energy musical comedy, stand up, and storytelling.
Dylan is a classically trained pianist, turned unhinged gay musical comic. His hour is injected with songs, personal anecdotes, and even acrobatics. He talks about growing up an identical gay twin, his racial identity, getting bullied in school in San Francisco, and screaming at his therapist. All woven together by jaunty musical themes. By the end of the show, he will be drenched in sweat and if you’re lucky, so will you.
A young Dylan was a bright eyed, optimistic kid who believed he’s a star. When other kids laughed at him, he was sure they just thought he was funny. Their parents were very accepting of having a pair of gay twins given that their mother is a self-proclaimed fag hag who is obsessed with Project Runway!
Dylan grew up in a racially diverse neighbourhood and was bullied in two languages. As a half Japanese and Jewish person, he talks about his identity as a double ‘JAP’ and how his parents meet at UC Berkeley – ‘the breeding ground for all Jewpanese’ children.
He talks about how his Ojichan (grandfather) signed up to be a Kamikaze Pilot in World War II, Dylan is thankful to feel connected to him…whenever he feels mentally ill or spiteful of the USA. It’s no surprise Dylan is in therapy and describes himself as “sober, except for Poppers, Ketamine and Molly”.
Despite being in a gay relationship Dylan and his ex-boyfriend fell into heteronormative tropes. He discusses the breakup and how difficult it was for him, believing it was partly connected to a past sexual trauma that still haunts him…
Dylan gets into all of the above as well as the woes of adult life including stealing your therapist’s toilet paper, sexual politics, and being described as a ‘theatre kid who escaped Alcatraz’.
Dylan Adler is a comedian, actor, writer and musician based in Los Angeles. He was recently a writer and performer on the Late Late Show with James Corden where he performed Stand Up and was a Sports Correspondent. He has appeared on After Midnight on CBS twice alongside Margaret Cho, Atsuko Okatsuka and Reggie Watts.
He recently starred in Chelsea Peretti’s movie First Time Female Director and voiced a super villain character on the Disney show Hamster and Gretel. He also starred in the film Theatre is Dead co-starring alongside Shane West and Stephanie Suganami.
For the past two years he has toured the US and Europe opening for Atsuko at sold out theatres, including this year at the Eventim Apollo in London and the O2 Academy in Glasgow. He was recently named a Comic You Should and Will Know by Vulture Magazine.
Last year Dylan performed ‘Haus of Dy-lan’ at the Netflix is a Joke Festival. He also recently performed stand up on Comedy Central. His show with Kelly Bachman Rape Victims are Horny Too with Kelly ranked #2 in Paste Magazine’s 12 Best Comedy albums of 2022.
Live Nation in association with WME & Brillstein Entertainment Partners proudly presents:
GIANMARCO SORESI – DEBUT
Show Title: Gianmarco Soresi: The Drama King
Venue: Monkey Barrel – 3
Dates: 18th – 24th August
Time: 3pm
US comedian Gianmarco Soresi has announced a week-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of his ‘Drama King’ tour. He will appear at the Monkey Barrell from 18th – 24th August and prior to that he makes a pitstop in Glasgow’s Glee Club on 17th August.
Gianmarco effortlessly commands a room with his animated style, blending upbeat candor with dark comedic beats. He has over 1 million subscribers on YouTube, nearly 1 million followers on Tik Tok and over half a million on Instagram.
“My girlfriend is a British citizen, so my UK dates are more of an exploration of our options post-America. BUT I was also positively overwhelmed by the turnout the last time there and I’m looking forward to teaching more Scots people how to laugh and am excited to make my Edinburgh Fringe debut.” GIANMARCO
Fresh from recording his first comedy special, Gianmarco is still mining his f*cked up family, Jewish girlfriend and crumbling country for comedy gems.
Whether he’s talking about his recent ADHD diagnosis, discovering his girlfriend’s coriander aversion after it’s too late to break up, starting taking drugs in your 30’s, trying to make friends by getting into professional wrestling, the struggle to find a historically accurate museum in America, places you should be allowed to take off your shirt, a potential threesome with another man, AI’s acceleration of humanity’s demise, Elon Musk, JK Rowling, or Israel, you can sure of two things: he’s going to make it about his parents’ divorce somehow, and you won’t see the punchline coming.
Soresi was recently named one of Deadline Comedians Ready to Break Out in 2025 as well as one of Vulture’s Comedian You Should and Will Know. He has just finished filming his debut hour special recorded in Los Angeles at the Elysian Theatre. His previous ‘Leaning In’ tour spanned all the U.S., Australia and Europe including the UK.
He’s performed stand-up on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Comedy Central, Don’t Tell, The Real Housewives of New York, and was selected as a Just For Laughs New Face in 2022. Gianmarco has also acted in Billy Crystal’s Here Today, Netflix’s Bonding, Hustlers, The Last OG, and is the host of the popular podcast “The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi which he has also toured with co-host Russell Daniels.
AEG with United Talent proudly presents: DEBUT
GRACE HELBIG
Show Title: Grace Helbig: Let Me Get This Off My Chest
Venue: Pleasance Dome – Jack Dome
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 7pm
More than 2.5 million YouTube Subscribers & 1.3 on Instagram, Grace Helbig is one of the original YouTube stars in the US, and she will be making her debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
Grace is a multi-talented comedian and has amassed millions of views as the star and creator of the award-winning series, DailyGrace. She is also the co-host of the popular This Might Get Weird podcast. She will be performing at the Pleasance Jack Dome, for the entire run, with a very personal show about her breast cancer journey entitled ‘Let Me Get This Off My Chest’.
Grace has been an online content creator for sixteen years. Falling into it by chance, she
was at the inception of new media content creation. She rode the wave, making five videos a week for years and created many thousands of pieces of content over that time. As an introverted people pleaser, being able to entertain people from the comfort of her own home was a dream come true!
But, after a decade of shooting, editing and posting videos of her own face, she started to get sick of herself. She was burnt out, and even worse had a full-blown identity crisis about who I was if she wasn’t ‘DailyGrace’. So, she took a step back and went to graduate school, studying psychology, learning about CG Jung’s idea of individuation and Joseph Campell’s Hero’s Journey, that gained her perspective about life outside the internet.
As she approached graduation, Grace started to feel the familiar anxieties about wondering who she was in the world and not knowing what to do with her life. And then, the universe answered those anxieties, with an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis a week after graduation. After getting the courage to ask her gynecologist about a lump in her left breast that she had tried to ignore for a year, she went for a mammogram, and subsequent uncomfortable biopsy, waiting a week for the results…
After finding out she had triple positive breast cancer, Grace was surprised that her diagnosis gave her a huge sense of imposter syndrome. She was an indoor internet kid; not built for chemo, surgeries, needles or hospitals. The only saving grace, was that she very familiar with imposter syndrome. She was a YouTuber after all. And in the beginning, the traditional world of entertainment hated YouTubers. In a small way being a Youtuber had kind of prepared her for the overwhelming unknowns that could come in this healing journey!
Grace could never really have prepared herself for how sick she would get…it was all consuming and endless. Luckily moments of fun reminded her that the worst parts don’t last forever, and she’s now in remission. And it was even more impossible to imagine being healthy, happy, hairy…and yet also… miss it? Yes, sometimes she misses being sick! Participating in the real world is hard! She existed outside the realm of familiar society where she didn’t have to please a single person which was…INCREDIBLE!
For the devastating price of her physical wellbeing, she got a level of carte blanche that she had never experienced before – The Cancer Card. Access to an emotional echelon in which no one is allowed to be mad at you! Where showing her vulnerability to both loved ones and total strangers made her connect to them in a deeper and more meaningful. Where finding small moments of joy felt huge and laughter was medicine. Where she got to show herself just how capable she is and that she wasn’t an imposter.
Grace Helbig has written two NY Times bestsellers, Grace’s Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grownup, and Grace & Style: The Art of Pretending You Have It. She’s sold-out comedy shows across the globe, starred in the movies ‘Camp Takota’ and ‘Dirty Thirty’, hosted The Grace Helbig Show on E!, and currently co-hosts the hit podcast This Might Get Weird. She’s interviewed the likes of Chelsea Handler, Dwanye Johnson, Larry King, and James Cordon and won Streamy Awards for Best First-Person Series and Personality of the Year. Grace has built a career on quick wit, awkward charm, and heartfelt story telling. With millions of fans worldwide and a unique point of view as a long-time content creator, she’s now bringing her signature comedy to the Edinburgh Fringe.
AEG in association with WME and Mosaic Management proudly presents: DEBUT
ISMAEL LOUTFI
Show Title: Ismael Loutfi: Heavenly Baba
Venue: Assembly – George Square Studio 5
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 6pm
Introducing L.A .based US comedian Ismael Loutfi who debuts at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and the Assembly George Square Studio 5, with his show ‘Heavenly Baba’ for the entire run. This is a show that needs to be seen to be believed, a hilarious and touching exploration of what it means to express oneself honestly and authentically, and how not to lose yourself in said expression.
‘Heavenly Baba’ follows Ismael, a deeply religious Muslim, growing up in a small redneck town. Guided by his father’s zeal, Ismael attempts to convert his classmates at a young age. After failing, he decides to attend an Islamic School, but becomes disappointed after learning that its curriculum isn’t as religiously motivated as he’d hoped. Seeing this, his father decides to paint Islamic messages all over his car, so the school administrators can see just how openly, and aggressive a Muslim you can be. Over the following two decades, the car turned into a moving billboard for Islam…
As his father developed his style on the car, Ismael eventually grew past being a religious zealot in the shadow of his father. He fell in love with a classmate at the age of 17 – but instead of dating this girl like a regular kid, Ismael conspired with his dad to marry her so that their relationship wouldn’t be haram or forbidden. This marriage, naturally, only lasted about 6 months, and the divorce launched Ismael into a career as a stand-up comedian!
Ismael found success after years of failure and became obsessed with learning how to talk about his upbringing, the car, the marriage and more. It wasn’t until his father, Yaser, died and left him a secret stash of 300 paintings, that Ismael was able to connect the dots. His father was, more than anything, an artist, and the car was his canvas.
Ismael Loutfi is a comedian, writer, and actor. He is currently writing on the upcoming animated show ‘Mating Season’, from the same team behind ‘Big Mouth’. Prior to that, he was a writer on ‘After Midnight’, Ramy Youssef’s animated #1 ‘Happy Family USA’ and Netflix’s ‘Patriot Act’ with Hasan Minhaj for which he won a Peabody Award. Ismael’s Comedy Central Half Hour special, Sound It Out, is streaming now on YouTube. His stand up was previously featured on This Week at the Cellar, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and stand-up series The Ringers. He has performed on the FOX Night of Comedy showcase and has been named a New Face of Comedy by the prestigious Just for Laughs comedy festival.
JESSIE NIXON DEBUT
Directed by Lauren Pattison
Show Title: Jessie Nixon: Don’t Make Me Regret This
Venue: Assembly George Square Gardens – The Crate
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 7.20pm
Jessie Nixon makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut with ‘Don’t Make Me Regret This’ at the Assembly George Square Gardens for the full run. The show has been directed by Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Lauren Pattison.
Nixon recently won a coveted Chortle Hot Shots award, blowing judges away with her dynamic, friendly stage presence and a sharp wit. She has also supported Fern Brady, Helen Bauer and Lou Sanders on tour.
Raised by a single mum with limited money, Jessie had a difficult childhood which led her to being homeschooled for 3 years, she also went to boarding school and every other type of schooling there is! Jessie currently works full time as a comic AND for the department of business and trade training diplomats and negotiators!
‘Don’t Make Me Regret This’ delves into her guilt around her ambition to achieve (hence two jobs!) and her self-discipline. Coming from a background that could be described as ‘impoverished bohemia’ She has a weird relationship with class and a constant undercurrent of rage about the nepotism in the comedy industry that goes unacknowledged so much of the time.
Although very body positive and an avid feminist, since creating this show she has lost 20kg and aims to lose another 10kg by the end of the fringe. The duality of being a feminist and wanting everyone to fancy you doesn’t go over her head and is a central theme of the show.
The show is peppered with songs and poems between well-crafted jokes from paying her dues in the clubs this combined with a theatrical background makes Jessie extra special. Within the show she takes confessions from the audience, whilst sharing her own about people she knows which includes topics of polyamory, being a lapsed catholic and weird men in her Instagram dm’s.
Jessie has gone viral twice, once for impressions and once for a satire on how the media reports on violence against women. In 2023 she went to Edinburgh with a work in progress of this show, which was about wanting to be fragile, feminine and a classic ‘damsel in distress’. Horrifically, she ended up getting sexually assaulted whilst flyering in her venue so whilst shes sort of fulfilled her ambition, she also uncovered the extremely flawed way the fringe fails to safeguard female performers.
Jessie Nixon was an accident, born and bred in Bristol but now residing in London. After a turbulent childhood and riddled with dyspraxia she procured 12.5 GCSEs, four A-levels and a criminal record…. She wanted to be an actress, but at nearly 6 foot tall, kept getting cast as ugly unlovable characters which was bad for her self esteem. She eschewed her theatre degree, and the expanse of the playhouse in favour of dingier, stickier, better, closer quarters. From there she held down a slew of various jobs including a call centre, bra fitter and recruiter. Gigging was her first great love, as mercurial and exhilarating and what she intends to do full time.
RBM proudly presents: DEBUT
JOE SIB
Show Title: Joe Sib: California Calling –
A Story of Growing Up Punk Rock
Venue: Gilded Balloon – Pip @ Appleton Tower
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 9pm
Introducing Joe Sib who makes his Edinburgh debut with his show ‘California Calling’ to Gilded Balloon’s Appleton Tower- Pip Room. The US comedian is known for his witty and engaging performances.
‘California Calling’ is a high-energy, hilarious and heartfelt ride through Joe Sib’s punk rock-fueled journey. Sib fuses stand-up and storytelling like no one else, sharing raw, relatable tales from the 1980s to stages with Metallica, The Ramones, and Social Distortion.
Growing up in California, he had a front-row seat as punk rock exploded into the suburbs, changing his life forever. From fronting WAX and 22 Jacks to co-founding SideOneDummy Records (where he worked with bands like Gogol Bordello, Flogging Molly and Gaslight Anthem), Sib’s journey is a wild, inspiring ride that is hilarious, personal, brutally honest and unforgettable.
The former punk rock rocker, skater and label owner takes the audience on a roller coaster journey that centres around one pivotal day that set Joe on the path that shaped his entire life. The show also incorporates his early life experiences from living with his parents in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains to his now current life as a father of two (his son is now a signed music artist himself!).
‘California Calling’ is about believing in something bigger than yourself. Whether it’s stepping into a skatepark for the first time, jumping into the punk scene, or risking it all for his dreams. With sharp storytelling, hilarious anecdotes, and a killer soundtrack of personal nostalgia, California Calling is more than just a coming-of-age punk rock tale – it’s a show about passion, perseverance and the ultimate realisation that your family is your first band.
Sib has had the unique opportunity along with comedy legend Jim Breuer to be the opening act of the 2018-2019 Metallica tour which redefined the term “opening it act”. Both Drybar and 800 Pound Gorilla have released comedy specials from him.
LILY BLUMKIN DEBUT
Award-winning writer and performer on the staff of The Daily Show.
Show Title: Lily Blumkin: Nice Try
Venue: Gilded Balloon – Patter House – Blether
Dates: 30th July – 25th August (not 14th)
Time: 5.40pm
Introducing Lily Blumkin, a character comedian and award-winning writer and performer for The Daily Show, who makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut this year with ‘Nice Try’ to the Gilded Balloon Patter House for the full run. This show sold out its debut in New York. Featuring nine original characters, “Nice Try” is an honest and hilarious look at how we remember the past, and how we use it to inform our present.
What REALLY happens when you try your best and you don’t succeed? That’s what the greatest comedian in the world, Lily Blumkin finds out. Okay, she’s ABOUT to be the greatest comedian in the world. As soon as she blows up on TikTok, which she’s super close to doing… After all, she posts every day and her views are finally reaching double digits. Next stop: fame and fortune!
For now, Lily’s back at her childhood home, packing up her bedroom because her parents are moving. As egregious as she finds it to get rid of the place where a once-in-a-generation talent grew up, Lily concedes that, fine, she “doesn’t live there anymore.” She runs through each of the objects that her mother asked her to discard, realising that while they might not be useful to her anymore, they are valuable; they capture the youthful spirit of the woman who will one day change comedy and entertainment forever. Somebody could make an art exhibit with all this stuff!
As she picks up an item, she launches into a character vignette of a moment from her past. An arcade toy reminds her of her first boyfriend, who, in the middle of a bar mitzvah party, revealed he secretly had a crush on his best friend. An old photograph reminds her of her dad, who tried way TOO hard to accept Lily when she came out as gay. A crumbling beauty product recalls the cosmetic employee who called her ugly many times.
Even more characters appear once her room starts to empty. Lily discovers another crumpled photograph that reminds her of her mum’s friend who hated her own kids. Her bat mitzvah giveaway, which recalls the rabbi who roasted her in front of the entire congregation. A clump of hair in the corner, taking her back to the weird abstract art she used to bring to life in her room. And the water bottle she got from her first job, which reminds her of the nightmare HR woman who spilled company secrets at the holiday party.
Once Lily’s room is clean, she proudly carries out her box of precious items, only to be stopped by her twelve year old self. Young Lily has come back to break the news to Adult Lily that she’s not actually that special, and she’s certainly not as hot as Young Lily hoped she’d be. Adult Lily is taken aback, and the two of them bicker about whose version of the past is more truthful.
She finally admits that maybe her self-image is a bit deluded, but don’t you have to be crazy to think you can make it as an entertainer? But when she gets back to New York, the doubts creep in. Lily starts to wonder if maybe everything she thinks about herself really is a lie. Maybe her 12-year-old self was right. Then suddenly, her phone blows up…… her TikTok’s gone viral! Fame and fortune, here she comes!
Lily Blumkin is an award-winning writer and performer on the staff of The Daily Show. She is featured on-camera as a Sketch Player and has helped the show win two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety Talk Series. In April 2023, she wrote the keynote speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for comedian Roy Wood Jr.
RBM proudly presents: DEBUT
NICK HORNEDO
Show Title: Nick Hornedo – Watch This When You Get Home
Venue: Underbelly – Bristo Square – Clover
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 2.25pm
Mexican American comedian Nick Hornedo makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut with his show ‘Watch This When You Get Home’ at the Underbelly Bristo Square Clover for the entire festival. The show has already featured as part of the Projectorfest, SOLOCOM and the New York City Fringe Festival in the US. A selection from this show is being featured in an episode of PBS’s Stories From the Stage and will be airing on television stations across the U.S.
‘Watch This When You Get Home’ is an examination of romance for a generation that digitized self-reflection as well as a portrait of a young artist chasing the impossible plotlines he writes for himself. A painfully honest stand-up and storyteller, Nick Hornedo explores the adolescent crushes that taught him to treat every moment like a movie. From a terrifying first kiss in a recreation of the swamp from Shrek, to a romance that ends up with multiple kicks to the groin and to a climactic screening of a hysterical and cringe-inducing breakup video.
Nick talks about his first kiss with a friend in orchestra class, he was completely inexperienced and desperate to get this over and done with! His friend, who was very experienced but with a conspicuously detached attitude toward sex, offers to make out with him after school. They sneak to the green room behind the auditorium and kiss before getting walked in on by a teacher. The initial excitement of the kiss is deflated after Nick’s friend acts like it never happened…
In 9th grade Nick had a crush on an older girl in a higher class who had a habit of psychologically torturing boys that liked her with insults, humiliating requests, and occasional kicks to the balls. The deeper Nick fell in love with this girl, the more she’d insult him to test his limits…
Hornedo has so much main character energy that when he was in high school, he broke up with his girlfriend Ellie by making her a movie. He thought handing her an SD card and saying “watch this when you get home” would be romantic! Instead, she thought it was psychotic. Ten years later, Nick and his ex reunited to unpack what happened and, in the process, realise that they both yearn for the days when life and art felt indistinguishable. He asks Ellie if he can record their conversation up and turn this moment of closure into a piece of art.
Nick Hornedo is originally from Laredo, Texas but grew up in Indianapolis. He graduated from Harvard in 2019 where he studied both Government and Theatre. He is now based in Brooklyn, New York. A two-time Moth SLAM winner, Nick combines traditional standup with storytelling across NYC including at The Bell House and the Upright Citizens Brigade. His storytelling comedy show, Campfire Tales features comedians from SNL, Comedy Central, and NPR. Nick’s comedy has been featured in Vulture, McSweeney’s, Points In Case, Pod Save America, as well as on his social media where he’s posted shorts that have received over 1 million views.
Prior to pursuing comedy, Nick worked in American politics, creating social media content for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris during President Biden’s 2020 campaign, and at the Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg. When he worked for the DOT, Nick got in trouble for tweeting a single peach emoji at a Senator from Georgia. It was meant to be in reference to peach farming but was taken as a thirst trap….
RBM in association with CAA & Framework Entertainment proudly presents: DEBUT
PARKER CALLAHAN
Show Title: Parker Callahan: Soda Pop
Venue: Assembly George Square Studios – Studio 5
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 22.05pm
Comedian, musician, and internet personality Parker Callahan makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut with his show ‘Soda Pop’ at the Assembly George Square Studios for the whole festival. Parker is a best known online for creating quirky, one-of-a-kind videos under the digital moniker @parkthelark, which have collectively amassed millions of views and likes.
‘Soda Pop’ is an alt-comedy tour de force; a multimedia, stream of consciousness journey into the mind of a slightly deranged gay man. Featuring original music, Parker keeps his audience laughing and asking, with a mix of horror and delight, “is this the gay agenda?” One moment he’s singing a song about underwear being sold at the thrift shop, and the next, he’s calling the police on one of his audience members who looked at him in a weird way!
In this chaos, Soda Pop invites you to take a break from thinking too much and instead follow your dumbest, most delightful impulses. Absolutely no trauma is explored, dissected, or prodded. This is pure fun. That’s not to say there’s no substance – throughout the show, Parker explores everything from the vulgar to the divine, the mundane to the profound: the full, ridiculous spectrum of the human experience. Simply put: Soda Pop is a pop concert–Ted Talk–spectacle led by a twink in a Speedo. Any questions?
‘Soda Pop’s’ visual language is a fever dream of 2000s paparazzi shots, late-night infomercials, and watermarked stock photos no one paid for. Musically, Parker runs the gamut—from absolute bangers to dramatic ballads that might make you question your CHOICE to be straight.
In addition to being a comedian, Parker is a formally trained musician with a background in music theory and composition. He hails from Chicago, IL — a city known for its vibrant comedy scene, and in recent years, a breeding ground for extremist alt comedians like Meg Stalter, Connor O’Malley, and Sarah Squirm. Parker proudly emerges from the same swamp and stands on the shoulders of his greatest influences like Cole Escola, Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson, Maria Bamford, Tim & Eric, Pee Wee Herman, and John Waters.
RBM proudly presents: DEBUT
SEATON SMITH
Show Title: Seaton Smith: Trauma Bonding
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker 3
Dates: 30th July – 24th August (not 11th)
Time: 8.30pm
Acclaimed US comedian Seaton Smith is set to take the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm with his new show, ‘Trauma Bonding’ – a fearless, wildly entertaining deep dive into the pursuit of dreams, the absurdity of life, and the ridiculous ways we all cope with chaos. The New Yorker makes his debut at the Pleasance Courtyard Bunker 3 for the entire festival.
With his signature blend of razor-sharp wit and infectious energy, Seaton starts big – taking on the world’s current madness. From Trump to plane crashes to Israel, he tackles the headlines with the perfect mix of insight and irreverence. But as the laughter builds, the journey gets more personal.
He explores the weight of family, from dodging fatherhood to grappling with his cousin coming out as trans. Then, after Seaton thought buying a moped would be a smart investment he had a near-fatal crash involving a drug addict. ‘Trauma Bonding’ also plunges into Seaton’s childhood, where accidents were a rite of passage. Whether it was a mountain biking disaster that required a helicopter rescue, an ill-fated attempt to be Batman that landed him in the hospital, or a church bus held hostage by his constipation – his life has been one ridiculous mishap after another.
And then there’s his dating life… Fresh out of a long-term relationship, Seaton discovers he’s inexplicably drawn to women just like his mother – a woman known for fighting cops, punching her own brother mid-drive, and proudly displaying a framed slave auction poster. Raw, hilarious, and deeply personal, ‘Trauma Bonding’ is a rollercoaster ride through the highs, lows, and WTF moments of Seaton Smith’s life. Come for the social commentary, stay for the insanity, and leave realizing we’re all just trying to survive the ride.
Seaton Smith is comedian, actor and filmmaker. In 2023 he released his comedy special ‘Seaton Smith: Live from Madison Square Garden’, one of the best of the year according to the New York Times. Smith’s special also produced several viral videos that received millions of views. He has just finished an extensive tour with John Mulaney.
He is currently directing, writing, and starring in ‘Heat of the Moment’, which gives a comedic behind the scenes look at his sold-out tour dates with The Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas. Smith also just completed co-starring in a feature film and is developing a film with Sundance Award-winning producers.
Seaton starred in Mulaney, Alternatino with Arturo Castro, and the Primetime Emmy Award Nominated Mini Series aka Wyatt Cenac. His numerous other acting credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Inside Amy Schumer, Tamara Jenkins’ Private Life, Chris Rock’s Top Five, Search Party, Difficult People and That Damn Michael Che.
He has performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Conan, and was a regular on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. New York Magazine/Vulture named him one of the “50 Comedians You Should Know” and described him as “Bursting with Energy in a way that sets him apart in an overcrowded stand-up scene,” The Kennedy Center called him “A hilarious stand-up comic who has taken the New York comedy scene by storm,” and Time Out New York called him “A naturally effervescent stage presence. As spirited as he is cerebral… One to watch.”
Fane proudly presents:
MIRIAM MARGOLYES OBE
Title of Show: Margolyes & Dickens: More Best Bits
Venue: Pleasance @ The EICC – Pentland
Dates: 9th – 24th August (except 18th & 21st)
Time: 6pm (show runs for 70 minutes)
Having sold every ticket in 2024, the iconic award-winning actress, TV personality and author Miriam Margolyes returns to the Pleasance EICC at the Edinburgh Fringe for 14 dates from 9th – 24th August. More characters, more Dickens, and more fascinating stories about the man behind the classics. At 84, Miriam’s energy and passion are undimmed and her performance as electric as ever.
After beguiling you with her love of Dickens its then over to the audience to provide questions for an unfiltered free-for-all of outrageous honesty, hilarious new anecdotes and unapologetic opinions. More laughs.
“Same old c**t, even older but so enjoying the thought of another go with Mr. Dickens…and you! It could be the last time, but don’t bank on it!” MIRIAM MARGOLYES 2025
Miriam’s many passions include her love for radio and is highly outspoken on talk shows, for which she is much in demand. She loves Martha Argerich and Cecilia Bartoli. She is a lesbian, a non-believing Jew and an Arsenal fan. She loathes Trump, Boris Johnson and Modi. She loves India, food, politics and Italy.
Born in Oxford and educated at Cambridge and now a dual UK and Australian citizen, Miriam Margolyes is a veteran of stage and screen, who has achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. She was Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (parts 1 & 2).
Her numerous other major films include Yentl, Little Shop of Horrors, I Love You To Death, End of Days, Sunshine, Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, Cold Comfort Farm and Magnolia. Amongst her many awards, she won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for The Age of Innocence and was awarded the OBE for her services to drama in 2002. She was the voice of the Matchmaker in Mulan and Fly, the mother dog, in Babe.
Her most memorable TV credits include Old Flames, Freud, Life and Loves of a She Devil, Blackadder, The Girls of Slender Means, Oliver Twist, The History Man, Vanity Fair and Supply & Demand. Margolyes played naughty Grandma Rose in Sky’s comedy series Trollied and was a major part of the all-star cast in The Real Marigold Hotel for BBC1 and the sequels.
Memorable Stage credits include Madame Morrible in both the London & Broadway productions of WICKED, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit (Melbourne Theatre Company), The Vagina Monologues, Sir Peter Hall’s Los Angeles production of Romeo & Juliet, and her own award-winning, one-woman show, Dickens’ Woman, performed at Festivals in Edinburgh, London, Sydney, Jerusalem, Santa Cruz, USA, New York City, Boston & all over India.
Miriam is still working in drama and documentaries today playing Mother Superior in Call The Midwife and last year was the Voice of Meep in Dr Who. In 2022, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by BBC RADIO. Between 2021 and 2022 Miriam Margolyes – Almost Australian and Australia Unmasked Documentaries were released, winning the AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program. Followed in 2024 with Miriam Margolyes: Impossibly Australian. Her latest travelogue took Miriam to New Zealand, which is due to be released in the UK in this year.
She is also a veteran theatre and voice-over actress and recorded 6 podcasts for Audible: Growing Old Disgracefully. And more recently, Miriam has penned two bestselling memoirs – This Much is True and Oh Miriam. She has her own podcast in the pipeline…
