The best comedy shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

What is it? Joe Kent-Waters deservedly took home last year’s best newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his batshit debut …Is Frankie Munro: Live!!!, in which he played a shambolic Rotherham working man’s club owner who has made a Faustian pact to ensure said club’s improbable success. Unfortunately for him at the end of the show his 25 years of grace are up and he is rightfully sucked into hell, where we will meet him at the beginning of its pleasingly named sequel …Is Frankie Monroe: DEAD!!! (Good Fun Time). 

Where is it? Monkey Barrel at Cabaret Voltaire.

What is it? Lorna Rose Treen’s 2023 show Skin Pigeon was a joyously bonkers hour of sketch comedy that was on paper somwhat unfashionable but in reality delivered with such total bug-eyed conviction it felt instantly timeless. And now here’s the follow up! Whereas the sketches in Skin Pigeon weren’t directly connected to each other, 24 Hour Diner People is nominally set in a diner, which apparently has a working grill. If it’s anything like as good as its predecessor it’ll be a must see.

Where is it? Pleasance Courtayrd.

What is it? After last year’s virtuosically weird My Huge Tits Huge Because They Are Infected NOT FAKE!, out there US comic Patti Harrison returns to the Fringe with ‘a secretive variety show with some very special friends, beautiful guests, upsetting surprises and sexual revelations’. To be quite frank it’s impossible to know if any of this is true. All we can really say is that it’ll be like nothing else at the Fringe and that you should probably take the 18-plus age guidance seriously. 

Where is it? Pleasance Courtyard.

What is it? If there’s one comic out there who you can trust to announce a high-concept theme to his new stand up show and then actually stick to it, it’s Kieran Hodgson, whose previous triumphs include shows about Lance Armstrong, the EU and his attempts to learn Scots Gaelic. Voice of America details his attempts to do an American accent for Hollywood after years of thinking he could do one. Which doesn’t necessarily sound like the formula for an hour of hilarity, but Hodgson is nothing if not reliable.

Where is it? Pleasance Courtyard.

What is it? Leftfield comics Riches and Kearns’s cult show is a sort of bizarre mix of tribute to and evisceration of housewives’ favourites Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, the actor-singers who are superstars in their own right and have done serious business as a double act. There are only three performances but they’re well worth your time: also of interest is Riches’ work-in-progress Sean Bean Reading Le Morte d’Arthur Out Loud for an Hour (Aug 11-13, Monkey Barrel Comedy), which is apparently precisely as it sounds.

Where is it? Pleasence Courtyard. 

What is it? There’s something genuinely heartening about the fact that Tim Key – essentially a weird poet – has become such a big deal. There’s no clear explanation as to what his new show Loganberry is about, and it seems like a stretch to imagine it’s signifcantly related to his excellent previous show Mulberry (which has nothing to do with mulberries). But really just enjoy the ride as the shambolic master dips into the Fringe for a couple of weeks.

Where is it? Pleasance Courtyard.

What is it? Broad Strokes takes its name from the fact Cohen randomly had a stroke in 2023. While it seems likely that this show about the incident will be full of showtune style piano numbers, overbearing crowd patter and faux diva schtick, it will also very likely actually be about how she had a stroke because it would be an insane thing to make up. Whatever the case, Cohen is simply gloriously entertaining company off vibes alone. 

Where is it? Pleasance Courtyard. 

What is it? As a rule we wouldn’t draw too much attention to a work in progress show, but it’s worth saying that the last time Ahir Shah rocked up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a WIP it was with 2023’s Ends, which he decided was actually good enough to reclassify as finished, and then went on to win the main festival comedy award with it. The odds of that happening this time are obviously pretty low, but he is undoubtedly one of our best comics and certainly this untitled show will be worth your while.

Where is it? Monkey Barrel Comedy.

What is it? Being a TV fixture – he’s steadfastedly refusing to miss a single episode of QI – has clearly taken its toll on Alan Davies’s stand-up career: the beloved comic hasn’t had a new stand-up show since 2012, and it’s been aeons since he last performed at the Fringe. Where did the time go? We’ll find out in Think Ahead, in which the once boyish star of Jonathan Creek squares up to the indignities of late middle age.

Where is it? Gilded Balloon Balloon at Appleton Tower.

What is it? This promising young comic makes his Fringe debut with an hour of sketch comedy based entirely around a series of ‘sad and pathetic characters’ who are absolutely not like him. To be honest we’re putting him here because a colleague saw the show and thought it was great, but we’ll soon find out if she’s right eh. 

Where is it? Pleasance Courtyard.