Jordan Gray: Is That a C*ck in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Here to Kill Me?
Assembly George Square Gardens, 30 Jul-24 Aug (not 6, 12, 19), 9.05pm
It’s been three years since Essex comedian Jordan Gray’s Edinburgh Award-nominated Is It a Bird?, which went on to ruffle a few transphobes’ feathers when it aired on Channel 4 earlier this year. Now she’s back, restyled as a heat-packing jokeslinger with a (musical) score to settle.
Rosa Garland: Primal Bog
Assembly Roxy, 30 Jul-24 Aug (not 12), 9.50pm
Trash Salad creator Rosa Garland invites us on a journey into the mind’s slimiest nooks and crannies. Celebrating our innermost desires, Garland’s experimental comedy is an ode to pleasure in all its muck-filled glory.
Shamik Chakrabarti: Despite Appearances
Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower, 30 Jul-24 Aug (not 11), 9pm
Dry wit and laid back rants characterise Mumbai comedian Shamik Chakrabati’s Fringe debut, which takes aim at every face-value judgement ever made about him. Neither sensible nor good at chess, he’s disproving one Indian stereotype after another.
Kim Blythe: Cowboy
Gilded Balloon Patter House, 30 Jul-25 Aug (not 11), 7.30pm
TikTok favourite Kim Blythe’s second show charts her imposter syndrome induced by the likes of selling out the Glasgow International Comedy Festival off the back of some front-camera rambling. Comedy’s self-proclaimed cowboy builder faces her feelings of winging it, weegie-style.
Janine Harouni: This Is What You Waited For
Monkey Barrel Comedy, 11-24 Aug, 1.25pm
Might third time be the charm for two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Janine Harouni? Fresh from a world tour, the UK-based, New York-born standup takes on topics like family, parenting and marriage.
Lou Wall: Breaking the Fifth Wall
Monkey Barrel Comedy, 28 Jul-24 Aug (not 12), 10pm
Australian comic Lou Wall’s musical, meme-heavy powerpoint is like having access to your most chaotic Gen Z friend’s phone. Wall re-teams with director Zoë Coombs Marr for a show that includes the sequel to ‘Where is Bed?,’ an unlikely earworm born out of a Facebook Marketplace argument from their previous show The Bisexual’s Lament.
Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: DEAD!!! (Good Fun Time)
Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire), 28 Jul-24 Aug (not 11, 12), 9.30pm
2024’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer is literally dying to get back on stage. Joe Kent-Walters re-animates his Yorkshire working men’s club owner Frankie Monroe for a throwback that’s more Beetlejuice than Beatlemania.
Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 Jul-24 Aug (not 6, 12, 19), 4.45pm
London and Lagos converged to make Ayoade Bamgboye, whose long-awaited stand-up debut dwells on exactly what that means. How does a quintessentially British need to please contend with the Nigerian standup’s loud personality? Big questions, but with a playful spin.
Mr Chonkers
Summerhall, 31 Jul-24 Aug (not 11, 18), 10.15pm
Silliness abounds in John Norris’s long-running ‘waste of time’ of a show. Fans of the absurd may be well acquainted already, such is the show’s cult, word-of-mouth status. If you’ve ever wondered how someone can call something utterly stupid and a must-see at the same time, look no further.
Barry Ferns: My Seven Years as Lionel Richie
Just the Tonic at The Caves, 31 Jul-24 Aug (not 5, 12, 13, 19), 6.40pm
For his twentieth Fringe show, Angel Comedy founder Barry Ferns looks back on his early years at the festival which included: Legally changing his name to Lionel Richie by deedpoll; legendary mixed-bill gigs on Arthur’s Seat; going bankrupt; and being offered half a million pounds as a TV presenter.
Holly Spillar: Tall Child
Underbelly, Bristo Square, 30 Jul-24 Aug (not 12, 19), 5.45pm
Described as the lovechild of Kate Bush and Bo Burnham, Holly Spillar expresses the instability that comes from leaving home while losing one job and quitting another. As life gets more difficult and more expensive, at least venting your frustrations costs little more than a mic, some acerbic lyrics and a loop pedal.