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12 newcomers to see at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The debut Fringe comedy shows we're most excited about this year
Adam Hess: Salmon
It’s about time Adam Hess performed a full-length solo show. He’s been on the circuit for five years, experimenting with different styles – from frantic one-liners to childish stories. Expect gag-packed tales.
Daphne Do Edinburgh
Sketch comedy. Newcomer.
This smart sketch trio – made up of Jason Forbes, George Fouracres and stand-up Phil Wang – haven’t been around very long but they’re already causing a stir, having won the Best New Act award at London Sketchfest. Their skits are tightly-written and skilfully performed, and the threesome have a joyous chemistry.
Darren Walsh: Punderbolt
Newcomer. Stand-up.
Silly puns, visual puns, animated puns, musical puns, groan-worthy puns… Puns galore, basically, from this one-liner slinging comedy giant (he’s 6' 8") in his debut full-length show.
George Egg: Anarchist Cook
Stand-up. Newcomer.
George Egg’s been on the circuit for two decades, but he’s finally making his Fringe debut. The baldy comic cooks up a three-course meal using only equipment found in hotel rooms – an iron, trouser press, coathangers etc – live on stage. With jokes, of course.
Harriet Kemsley: Puppy Fat
Newcomer. Stand-up.
Harriet Kemsley’s one of the Fringe debuts we’re most excited about this year. Her scatterbrained stories, jokes and endless list of worries are a constant source of laughs. She’s an anxiety-ridden mess, and that’s why she’s so funny.
Jonny Pelham: Before and After
Newcomer. Stand-up.
Debut solo show from this sharp-witted rising star, who’s been hotly tipped for a few years now – we picked him as one of our favourite new acts in 2014. Expect autobiographical stories about his teenage years (which weren’t that long ago – he’s only 23.)
Lolly
Newcomer. Character comedy.
We’re dead excited about Lolly Adefope’s debut hour. This character comic performs stand-up routines as her various alter-egos. Gemma, for example, is a confident-yet-hapless first-time comic whose co-workers have all told her she’s hilarious. And she is, just not for the reasons she thinks…
Marny Godden: Flap ’Em on the Gate
Newcomer. Character comedy. Clowning.
Marny Godden’s long been a Fringe favourite as part of oddball sketch troupe The Grandees. But this year she’s going solo with a mix of silly character comedy and absurdist clowning. She’s always been an enchanting performer in The Grandees’s shows, so we can’t wait to see what she comes up with all on her lonesome.
Matt Winning: Mugabe and Me (3D)
Offbeat one-liners, strange observations and pure silliness from this young Scottish comic in his Edinburgh debut. We were already excited about seeing Winning’s solo effort, but after he made this classy trailer we’re even more pumped.
Peter Brush: Older Than the Oldest Dog That Ever Lived
Stand-up. Newcomer.
This neurotic newcomer might seem unassuming and twee, but there’s a sharp comedic mind behind his low-key persona. Brush reached the final of the BBC New Comedy Awards a couple of years back, and now he’s making his Edinburgh debut with his understated tales and unexpected punchlines.
Phil Jerrod: Neanderthal
Stand-up. Newcomer.
Another Edinburgh Fringe debut we’re excited about. You could say Phil Jerrod is a bit of an overthinker. His eloquent rants – where multilayered jokes and highbrow references are packed into each line – deconstruct life’s petty woes.
Sofie Hagen: Bubblewrap
This Danish stand-up has been making a name for herself on the circuit since moving to London a few years ago, reaching the final of practically every new comp and bagging Chortle’s Best Newcomer gong in 2014. She’s an engaging stand-up, weaving serious topics with stories of her verging-on-stalkerish Westlife obsession.