Countering accusations that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has become too bloated and corporate, there are fewer shows for its 69th outing (3,269 events compared to 2015’s 3,314). A small but significant drop considering the relentless ‘bigger and better’ boasts of previous years. But while the number of events may have dipped, the quality and diversity of acts certainly hasn’t.
Honourable mentions go to shows by our transatlantic cousins, such as Michelle Wolf from The Daily Show, and The Office’s Chris Gethard’s hour-long laugh-riot (no, really) about suicide and depression. And representing the opposite hemisphere, there’s Melbourne comedian Nazeem Hussain’s wonderfully-titled ‘Hussain in the Membrane’ show, about growing up in Australia with Sri Lankan heritage.
Newcomers make the strongest showing this year, with the most creative shows coming from debut performers or featuring acts from outside the conventional comedy world. Echoing the state of the nation, this year’s highlights focus on political and socially-conscious themes, blurring the lines between reportage and comedy. But don’t worry, while some topical awareness is expected, belly laughs are always the biggest part of the equation.
Here are our top 5 must-see comedy acts from this year’s line-up.
Josie Long and Martin Williams
No one captures the spirit of the Fringe like Josie Long. The three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee’s transformation into the UK’s most engaging activist continues with her show ‘Investigations’. A joint project with investigative journalist and Guardian writer Martin Williams, this pioneering show lifts the lid on stories kept out of the news and the reasons why. It takes a special skill to get laughs out of Charlie Hebdo, creationist schools and Nick Clegg but with Josie we’re in safe, if somewhat silly, hands. Buy Tickets
Bilal Zafir
A show about right-wing Twitter trolls might not sound like the most inspiring night out, but trust in the expert hands of award-winning comedian Bilal Zafir. Making his Fringe debut, his show Cakes charts the events following the far right’s online arm angrily, and bizarrely, mistaking him for a Muslim-only bakery. Fascinating and hilarious in equal measure, strap in for a journey that deftly tackles some of the worst elements of modern Britain. Yes, Katie Hopkins, that means you. Buy Tickets
Jack Evans
One of the leading lights of Manchester’s blossoming alternative comedy scene, Jack Evans brings his warped cabaret to Edinburgh, fusing politicised stand-up with bizarre character acts, low-rent puppetry and nightmarish animations. The onstage meltdown of Maurice, “the world’s foremost pick-up artist, men’s rights activist and generally despicable human being”, looks set to be a stand-out moment of the festival, delivering a much-needed response to the unwelcome rise of ‘Lad Comedians’ such as Dapper Laughs. As inventive and unsettling as a one-man League of Gentlemen. Buy Tickets
Ayesha Hazarika
Best known for being special adviser to Labour leaders Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband, Ayesha Hazarika took her first steps in stand-up comedy nearly fifteen years ago. After six gruelling years gigging up and down the country, politics came calling, eventually leading to a key role on the Women and Equality Unit, amongst other laudable achievements. Her years with Harman form the basis of Tales From The Pink Bus, which is less an exposé and more a joke-heavy account of life in the corridors of power. Think Veep, but on a bus travelling down the M6. Plus, as Ayesha recently pointed out, “When you put my names together, it says ‘haha’ in the middle!” Buy Tickets
Harriet Dyer
Bipolar, anxiety and depression. Not the most traditional comedy subjects, but as the title of her show suggests, Harriet Dyer isn’t a traditional stand-up. Whimsical and unorthodox, she’s more like that old friend who constantly gets into trouble, then out of it just as easily by being so damn likeable. We’d Prefer Someone A Bit More Mainstream is a high-octane look at her life, drug habits and diagnoses, crammed with daft voices, quirky gestures and eccentricities that stick to your brain like a too-high dose of LSD. Buy Tickets
Credits
Text Ian Jones
Photography Steve Greer