Pleasance Courtyard

With three Netflix specials under her belt following the global headlines she made with her merciless set of Trump-baiting at the 2018 White House correspondents’ dinner, US comic Michelle Wolf is firmly in the big leagues and a great get for the 2025 Fringe, albeit for one week only. Wolf’s wide-eyed delivery contrasts nicely with her sharp one-liners and silly meanderings on topics such as sports, dating, gender and politics. She's ace.

Slightly bombastically billed as ‘the play Trump does not want you to see’ – we’re pretty sure the only theatre he has heard of is the musical Cats – Indian-born, US-educated performer Priyanka Shetty’s solo show #CHARLOTTESVILLE nonetheless looks like a promising and topical docu-drama about the infamous Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virgina on August 11 and 12 2017. Having moved to Charlottesville to study acting at the University of Virginia shortly beforehand, Shetty was horrified at events and constructed the play verbatim from interviews, court documents and news reports. Yury Urnov directs.

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. 

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.

There’s something genuinely heartening about the fact that Tim Key – essentially a weird poet – has become such a big deal, in part (of course) thanks to his appearances in less poetic guise in everything from talk shows to Alan Partridge to Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17. 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.

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 – as opposed to using it as a jumping off point for a more general set of jokes – it’s Kieran Hodgson, whose previous triumphs include shows about Lance Armstrong, the EU and his attempts to learn Scots Gaelic. That last show – 2023’s Big in Scotland – was prompted by his move to Glasgow to star in the sitcom Two Doors Down. Voice of America would also appear to be somewhat inspired by Hodgson’s screen career, detailing as it does 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 has this in hand.

Exactly how in earnest we’re supposed to treat Cat Cohen has always been pleasingly ambiguous: her hilarious Streisand-scale diva shtick has always been intentionally out of whack with playing small comedy clubs (though they’re not so small anymore), but it was clear that at least some of the stories she was telling in her last show Come for Me were entirely true. Broad Strokes takes its name from the fact Cohen – then in her early thirties – 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 unselfawareness, 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. 

Thirteen years on from his last solo Fringe show, beloved Kiwi Rhys Darby is back. The Flight of the Concords and Our Flag Means Death star promises silly musings about his own continued relevance in the high tech modern world; expect physical comedy, props, silliness and charm.

Brilliantly high concept sketch absurdists Sheeps appeared to disband with last year’s fine Fringe show The Giggle Bunch, and it is certainly possible that they’ll never do another full-length show again. Since then, however, they’ve made an extremely improbably Christmas album – A Very Sheeps Christmas – and this Fringe they’ll be reuniting to perform it for two nights only. Seasonaly appropriate or not, it’ll be a laugh, and we’re promised special guests – look out for the likes of Rose Matafeo and Lolly Adefope, who perform on the record. If that’s not enough Sheeps for you, then the group’s Jonno will be performing his debut solo set I Know I Can Become Good at This at Monkey Barrel Comedy the three following nights (Aug 11-13). 

Leftfield comics Riches and Kearns both are and aren’t keeping their cards close to their chests for this oddball seasonal extravganza. On the one hand we know exactly what it’s about: the duo will play Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, the actor-singers who are superstars in their own right and have done serious business as a double act. On the other hand they’re being deliberately opaque about what they actually have planned, even down to who is playing who. Neither Riches nor Kearns are noted for their singing voices; they are renowned for extreme commitment to the bit, no matter how absurd – in Riches’ case it borders on method. Whatever the hell happens, you’re unlikely to forget it in a hurry.