FESTIVAL BANGS! Our guide to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

We’re stoked to be bringing YOTEL to Scotland with the opening of YOTEL Edinburgh at the end of this month, just in time to make the most of the Festival Fringe. Here’s an entirely subjective and wholly unscientific round-up of (some) of the best that the Festival has in store this year…

Back by Popular Demand

Presented in rep, The Tales of Kieran Hodgson sees the return of stand-up Hodgson in all four of his solo shows.  Bernie Dieter’s multi-award-winning Little Death Club combines Weimar-punk jazz with circus acts, miscreants and misfits, while the Assembly Rooms will be hosting a couple of extraordinary circus shows: Bromance, from Britain’s Barely Methodical Group; and My Land, from Hungary’s Recirquel.

Photo credit: @bernieslittledeath

Family Favourites

Fringe is about more – much more – than stand-up, and some of the best shows in town promise fun for all the family. Splash Test Dummies deliver an hour of circus-filled hilarity and acrobatics, while The Kafkateers return with Beetlemania, a silly show with songs, stories and puppets that’s also educational. (“No prior knowledge or interest in Kafka required,” they promise!)  Mark Thompson’s Spectacular Science Show does what it says on the tin, bringing science to life with elephant’s toothpaste, vortex-generating dustbins and howling jelly babies. Young or old, you could do nothing better than rush to see Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster, a brilliant re-telling by the BAC Beatbox Academy for ages 13+.

Photo credit: @markthompsonastronomer

On Our Radar

If you’re one of the 235,000 people who follow national treasure Kathy Burke, you’ll know she’s crazy for (and directing) #HonestAmy, a “ukulele comedy” about mental health and the road to recovery. Phil Wang as added some extra late-night shows to his sold-out run of Philly Philly Wang Wang: buy them here. Girl from the North Country (the Conor McPherson play with songs by Bob Dylan) made a star of Sheila Atim. Now she is bringing her debut play, Anguis, to the Fringe, which she describes as “basically a long conversation” between Cleopatra and an immunologist called Kate. Richard Gadd won a comedy award for Monkey See Monkey Do at Edinburgh in 2016; now he’s back with a debut play, Baby Reindeer, a “chilling story” of obsession and delusion. 

Photo credit: @mrrichardgadd

Late-Night Shenanigans

The comedy powerhouse that is Gilded Balloon presents Comedy Night at the Museum: 60 minutes of improvised comedy that’s inspired by (and takes place alongside) artefacts in the collection of the National Museum of Scotland.  Meanwhile, Late Night Lip Service features the fabulous Gingzilla, bearded belle of the Edinburgh ball and an ever-changing line-up of circus acts, lip-sync battles, torch songs, burlesque and fierce comedy. Anyone with stamina and a penchant to bop into the wee hours should check out Late Night Patter Party at Paradise Palms.

Photo credit: @gingzilla