Thursday July 6th 2023
WET will be performing at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
Written by Midlothian View Reporter Rachel Bowen.
The Edinburgh Fringe is known for offering a huge range of shows to cater to every taste. If you’re seeking something a little unusual, look no further. From musical comedy, drag, clowns and more – here are ten of the most exciting weird and wonderful comedy shows coming to the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe
Rosalie Minnitt: Clementine
Photo: Ben Meadows
Following a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at VAULT festival earlier this year, writer/performer Rosalie Minnitt brings her debut character comedy show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Bonnets at the ready, ladies, as Bridgerton meets the Mighty Boosh in the feminist comedy diamond of the season.
Set loosely “in the past”, Clementine is a hilariously quirky, feel-good tale of sickly sisters, self-love and Sylvanian Families. Expect copious TikTok references and astrological predictions with a dash of history. Fun and empowering, this antidote to heartbreak is Gen Z’s ode to single life and womanhood.
2:25pm, 3rd – 27th August (not 14th) at Underbelly Cowgate
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/rosalie-minnitt-clementine
Dominique Salerno: The Box Show
Following a critically acclaimed run on the New York Fringe, multi award-winning, critically acclaimed one-woman, character comedy extravaganza The Box Show comes to the UK for the first time.
In this dynamic and entrancing theatrical solo sketch show, Dominique Salerno inhabits over 25 characters from within the confines of a 3’x 3’x 2′ cupboard. Think Saturday Night Live but performed by one woman – in a box!
3pm, 2nd – 27th August (not 16th) at the Pleasance Courtyard
Tickets: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/dominique-salerno-box-show
Benjamin Alborough: Absolute Monopoly
Photo:Matt Stronge
Comedian Benjamin Alborough is on a daring mission to reinvent Monopoly, and he needs YOUR help! Introducing Absolute Monopoly: a side-splitting, wildly immersive, comedy sensation that’s taking the classic board game to audacious new heights for our cutthroat modern era. Brace yourself for a high-octane game that’s fiercer, more relentless, and wreaks even greater havoc on relationships.
In this uproarious interactive comedy game show, audience members go head-to-head with each other and the host, transforming into living game pieces on a life-sized board.
5:50pm, 2nd – 28th August (not 15th) at Assembly George Square
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/benjamin-alborough-absolute-monopoly
Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody
Photo:Eric Martin
Following smash hit, critically acclaimed runs around Australia and Europe, The Hairy Godmothers are set to take Edinburgh by storm with Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody.
In a flurry of glitter, tiaras and steel cap boots, these Western Australian performers can’t wait to delight, excite and entertain in this hilarious, fantasy-driven, tongue-in-cheek cabaret that warps the classic “Hero’s Journey” into an enchanted modern musical of self-discovery.
Disclaimer: This Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody event and the producers The Hairy Godmothers are in no way affiliated with, or endorsed by, The Walt Disney Company or any of it’s affiliates.
6:30pm, 2nd – 27th August (not 7th, 14th or 21st) at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/dizney-in-drag-once-upon-a-parody
Charlie Vero-Martin: Picnic
Photo:Rebecca Need-Menear
The planet is melting and life’s spinning out of control. Can 2023 Sketch Off Finalist Charlie Vero-Martin save it with her seriously joyful sketch show? Jam packed with endearingly skittish stand-up, surreal characters and puppets, this is an indoor alfresco party like no other.
Sneaky salamanders, crabs in teeny tiny hats and passive-aggressive pinecones try to distract her attempts to put the world right. But beware, this summer ritual might just turn into a one-woman Wicker Man…
6:55pm, 3rd – 27th August (not 14th) at Underbelly Cowgate
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/charlie-vero-martin-picnic
Matty Hutson: Don’t Hold Back
Photo:Dashiell M.Silva
Musical comedian Matty Hutson (as heard on BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show) bares his sensitive soul in his highly anticipated debut hour. Don’t Hold Back is a warm, honest and delightfully witty show combining Matty’s delicate sensibilities with personal revelations and absurd speculations.
This unmissable interactive musical comedy extravaganza will be packed with original comedy songs, some parodies and as many instruments as he can fit in a suitcase.
7:15pm, 2nd – 27th August (not 14th) at the Pleasance Courtyard
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/matty-hutson-don-t-hold-back
Siân Docksey: Pole Yourself Together
Photo:Millie Robson
Pole dancing comedian Siân Docksey (as seen on BBC3’s Laugh Lessons) cheerfully ignores climate disaster, another recession and the steady creep of fascism to see if hanging off a stick can make you stop thinking about death.
A genre-smashing philosophical dance-comedy party. Or just an upside-down woman having an existential crisis, probably. For (partly) tax reasons, Siân combines two of her greatest passions to create a hilarious absurdist feminist extravaganza in her debut hour at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Pole Yourself Together uses surrealism to make effervescently weird comedy from political and personal dread, to answer the all-important question: Can pole dancing be funny?
7:10pm 2nd – 28th August (not 9th, 14th, 15th, 21st or 22nd) at the Pleasance Dome
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/sian-docksey-pole-yourself-together
WET
Open the floodgates and prepare for a torrential downpour as the award winning, adults-only cabaret WET comes to Edinburgh for the first time. WET invites audiences to explore the vast oceans of womanhood and femininity with humour, heart and a heavy sprinkle of sass.
This salacious cabaret oozes with insights into society’s ideas of “woman” – physically, culturally, emotionally, and historically – ultimately sluicing female “shame” and “guilt” down the drain. WET educates, titillates, and makes its audiences laugh through live music, dance, poetry and sketch humour drawing from science and history.
9:45pm, 15th – Sunday 27th August (not 21st) Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/wet
Lachlan Werner: Voices of Evil
This is the hotly anticipated, horrifying and hilarious Edinburgh Fringe debut from award-winning poof prince of puppets, Lachlan Werner. In one of comedy’s freshest feats, Lachlan seamlessly juggles innovative voice tricks, clowning and meta-ventriloquism to play three characters simultaneously, creating something akin to a demon love-child of The Muppets and The Exorcist.
This joyful, queer subversion of the horror genre and traditional ventriloquism, thrills audiences as they join Lachy and Brew for their sexy, surprising, rebellious and ridiculous occult ritual. Viewers beware – demonic voices appear to come from every corner and ANYONE could get puppeteered by EVIL!
10:30pm, 2nd – 27th August (not 15th or 23rd) at the Pleasance Courtyard
Tickets: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/lachlan-werner-voices-evil
Mad Ron: Crime School
Photo:Simon Cross
Celebrated comedy character, and ‘third hardest man in Uxbridge’ Mad Ron recently added a nomination for Best Show at Leicester Comedy Festival to his extensive list of accolades.At Mad Ron’s Crime School, you’ll learn all the tricks of the trade of a not-so-honest day’s work. This ex-con might be going straight but after years on the inside he’s got some tales to tell. Join him for a hilarious introduction to the criminal underworld as he hashes out his gripes with modern society.
10:35pm, 2nd – 27th August (not 15th) at Assembly George Square
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/mad-ron-crime-school
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