Today the Edinburgh Festival Fringe launches its official 2023 brochure. There were fears that the Fringe bubble might burst after Covid, but the comedy line-up is very much back in full force this year, from newcomers to household names, from reality TV stars to game show contestants, jostling for attention. We’ll give you the lowdown on the lesser known acts elsewhere, but below, we pick out some of the star attractions guaranteed to sell out, so buy your tickets as soon as possible.
Bridget Christie
Christie won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2013 for her show A Bic for Her which took a swipe at everyday sexism. She returns with Who Am I? It is a barnstorming set notionally about the menopause, but beyond the chat about hot flushes and hormones this is about much more, from the state of the nation to the correct way to organise your tupperware. It is worth underlining that it is certainly not just for women of Christie’s age. Everyone with a functioning sense of humour will find this funny.
The Stand’s New Town Theatre, August 2-10
Darren Harriott
The Black Country rising star warms up for his Roadman tour. It’s been an eventful year for Harriott, who recently donned skates for ITV’s in Dancing on Ice, but then this gifted storyteller has clearly had an eventful life. His father took his own life in prison and Darren ended up in a teenage gang. If he hadn’t discovered comedy his life might have been very different. Onstage he talks about how as a child he was so keen to be cool he would never smile in photographs. These days he has plenty to smile about.
Pleasance, August 2-27
Adam Kay
In 2016 Adam Kay visited Edinburgh with a show about his experiences of being a hospital doctor. Comedian Mark Watson brought a friend in publishing along and the rest is best-selling history. Three million books and a hit TV series later Kay returns with more darkly comic blood-soaked stories of ward life. Expect new anecdotes as well as encores for some of the most memorable passages. “People ask for refunds if they don’t get the degloving story,” says Kay. You have been duly warned.
Pleasance, August 2-28
Frank Skinner
Veteran Skinner planned to return to the Fringe in 2022 but cancelled. Fans will now finally see his 30 Years of Dirt set – maybe it should be retitled 31 Years of Dirt but that doesn’t scan quite so well. And Skinner certainly knows about poetry and the power of language; he has a hit podcast on the subject. Some critics have suggested that comedians lose their edge as they age, but even in his mid-sixties this West Midlands wag is as sharp as ever. Nobody is as eloquently smutty as Skinner in full flow.
Assembly George Square, August 3-27
Rosie Jones
Jones has become a familiar TV face since her last Fringe, popping up on panel shows, game shows and documentaries, known for her cheek, honesty and sense of fun as well as being a vocal campaigner for disability rights. In Triple Threat she asks whether she is on her way to becoming a national treasure or hurtling down the road to becoming a national liability. Jones, who has cerebral palsy, says: “I’ve been performing my whole life because when I enter any room I have to have the confidence to go ‘Don’t worry I’m disabled, I’m not drunk’.”
Pleasance, August 11 & 12
Geoff Norcott
It always helps in comedy if you have a unique selling point and Geoff Norcott is that rare thing, a Leave supporting, right-leaning stand-up. In Basic Bloke he tries to make sense of the current cultural and political climate. He is an equal opportunities plague-on-both-your-houses satirist, finding fault with both the government and the opposition. Elsewhere he explores masculinity in crisis and, as the title suggests, asks what is next for the football-loving, emotionally stunted male.
Underbelly, August 14-27
Viggo Venn
When comedian Venn booked a late-night stint at the intimate Monkey Barrel venue he probably did not expect he would have just banked £250,000 for winning Britain’s Got Talent. The high-vis vest-wearing comedian is well-established on the circuit as an inventive, madcap clown in the tradition of physical performers such as Doctor Brown and Spencer Jones. Having conquered primetime with a quickfire greatest hits set, this is a chance to see him in full, unedited flow. It is a short residency but check the Fringe website as more dates may well be added.
Monkey Barrel, August 16-27
Sara Pascoe
Television viewers will know Pascoe for her travelogues Last Woman on Earth and hosting The Great British Sewing Bee, but she is at her finest as a thoughtful, candid stand-up. Success Story homes in on two sides of her life – her quest for fame, starting as a teenager auditioning for Michael Barrymore, and her desire for children and the lengths to which she went to conceive. Pascoe’s playful incredulity is in full force here: “I’m someone’s mum!” she declares, as if she cannot believe how her life has turned out.
Underbelly, August 18
Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Taskmaster fans can take their pick at the Fringe this year with three recent alumni appearing. Frankie Boyle is at the Assembly Rooms (August 3-13) and Ivo Graham premieres a new show at the Pleasance (August 2-27). But most intriguing is Taskmaster/Ghosts star Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who is in a double act with Ed MacArthur as spoof children’s entertainers String V Spitta. There are lashings of childish laughs, but for adults only; this is not suitable for under 16s.
Pleasance, August 18-26
Rhod Gilbert
Welshman Gilbert’s return to the Fringe is bound to be emotional. Last year he revealed that he had stage 4 cancer. He will be trying out new material and it would be no surprise to discover that the show is about his recent life-changing experiences. You don’t have to be a comedian to see the humorous potential in the irony that Gilbert found himself being treated in the very cancer centre in Cardiff that he was a celebrity patron of. As he joked at the time. “Imagine my surprise when I was diagnosed with cancer...I thought I’d have lifelong immunity.”
Gilded Balloon, August 21-27
The Edinburgh Fringe runs from August 4-28, previews from August 2; edfringe.com
