Friday July 3rd 2026
Alice Fraser (photo by Monica Pronk)
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
From household names and broadcast veterans to viral stars making their solo debuts, the stand-up comedy slate for the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe is incredibly strong. If you are looking for razor-sharp wit, daily political takedowns, and deeply moving personal storytelling, add these stand-up hours to your August schedule immediately.
Fringe favourites:
Alice Fraser: Oh Man! (8:40pm, Monkey Barrel at O’Neills)
A regular on BBC Radio 4’s flagship satirical show The News Quiz and a beloved co-host of global phenomenon The Bugle, Fraser returns to tackle modern manhood, male loneliness, and the incel movement. With her own stand-up specials streaming on Amazon Prime, she offers a genuinely hopeful way forward.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/alice-fraser-oh-man
John-Luke Roberts: What I Talk About When I Run About Talking (2:10pm, Monkey Barrel 4)
Following a major health scare, the acclaimed avant-garde comic is stripping back his usual theatrics for his purest stand-up hour to date. This is a poignant, fiercely funny, and accessible exploration of mortality from one of The Telegraph’s ‘50 Funniest Comedians of the 21st Century’
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/john-luke-roberts-what-i-talk-about-when-i-run-about-talking
Eleanor Morton: The Mermaid (1pm, Monkey Barrel Cab Vol 1)
Fresh from her 2026 BBC Radio 4 show Eleanor & Pals, the Scottish comedian and online sketch favorite uses mermaid mythology to examine body standards, fear-based sex education and why she wants to be a mermaid despite not knowing how to swim.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/eleanor-morton-the-mermaid
Patrick Monahan: I’m Not a Terrorist – I’m Freddie Mercury (9pm, Gilded Balloon Patter House)
A master of observational comedy and winner of ITV’s Show Me the Funny, Monahan reflects on a lifetime of extra airport security checks and mixed heritage. The familiar TV face (The One Show, Splash!, Pointless Celebrities) proves with his signature warmth that he has much more in common with Queen’s iconic frontman than any geopolitical threat.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/patrick-monahan-i-m-not-a-terrorist-i-m-freddie-mercury
Ted Hill: PowerPoindexter (6pm, Assembly George Square)
Fresh from his massive golden buzzer success on the 2026 series of Britain’s Got Talent, Hill brings a high-energy, unapologetically nerdy hour of multimedia stand-up packed with 3.4 gigabytes of silly visual slides.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ted-hill-powerpoindexter
(Bringing family? Catch Ted’s morning kids show instead: Ted Hill Teaches You Science, Most of Which is True at 11:10am at Assembly Roxy)
Kate Butch: A Kate in the Hand is Worth Two in the Butch (8pm, Pleasance Dome)
The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK breakout star and 2026 finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World is on a mission to become a better person. An accomplished comic who won Celebrity Mastermind and starred in BBC One’s The Power of Parker, Butch hilariously dissects the online backlash of being queer on television.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/kate-butch-a-kate-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-butch
Wit, Activism and the News Cycle:
Sid Singh: Love Bombing (4:15pm, The Counting House)
Part stand-up, part genuine activist toolkit. Singh (a human rights lawyer who successfully beat the Trump administration in court and has written for Comic Relief, BBC3’s Muzlamic, and BBC Radio 4’s Sikisa’s Border Control) brings a highly uplifting show about standing up to power while being completely baffled by modern dating.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/sid-singh-love-bombing
Sid Singh
Alex Franklin: Kiss Me x (2:25pm, Underbelly Cowgate)
A high-stakes romantic comedy hour blending absurdist stand up and comedy songs. Franklin, who has accrued 20 million views online and appeared on Channel 4, HBO Max, and BBC Radio 4 delivers a celebratory and hilariously joyful look at dating as a trans woman.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/alex-franklin-kiss-me-x
Adele Cliff’s Topical Early Late Show with Adele Cliff (7:20pm, Hoots Potterow)
The UK Pun Champion and accomplished joke writer for BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, Dead Ringers and BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking the News brings American late-night TV energy to the early evening. Expect a daily-written show tackling the day’s headlines alongside a live house band from Katie Pritchard.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/adele-cliff-s-topical-early-late-show-with-adele-cliff
Jake Baker: The Gentle Men’s Club (1:15pm, Hoots @ The Apex)
A hilarious, whimsical response to the toxic internet culture of hyper-masculine influencers. Baker (three-time BBC New Comedy Award nominee) playfully dismantles the manosphere, celebrating the benefits of feminism and the quiet luxury of letting his girlfriend be the breadwinner.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/jake-baker-the-gentle-men-s-club
Rising Stars and Personal Truths:
Aarian Mehrabani: How’s Your Head? (4:45pm, Underbelly George Square)
The award-winning co-creator of the smash-hit play IT’S A MOTHERFKING PLEASURE makes his solo stand-up debut. Ahead of starring in David Baddiel’s highly anticipated Channel 4 thriller Hunting Alice Bell, Mehrabani weaves an irreverent, bold hour around his Persian heritage, being blind and bisexual, and his recent battle with brain cancer.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/aarian-mehrabani-how-s-your-head
Steffan Alun: Windows (6:15pm, Hoots @ The Apex)
The Pegasus Award-winning Welsh comedian and regular on BBC Wales, S4C, and Radio Cymru delivers an observational masterclass on imposter syndrome. Alun, who made his BBC Radio 4 debut on Live From the UK, explores identity and the hilarious lengths he went to to prove his mother was lying about their family home.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/steffan-alun-windows
Michael John Ciszewski: Mother, Superior (2pm, Bedlam Theatre)
NYC-based stand up and storyteller Ciszewski attempts to petition the Vatican to canonize his living mother in a sacrilegious, interactive game-show hour. This performance, from a trained instructor with The Moth, beautifully processes millennial baggage and queer joy.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/michael-john-ciszewski-mother-superior
Ali Brice: This Is The Way We Brush Our Teeth (7:40pm, Hoots Potterow)
Seasoned alternative favorite Ali Brice (whose screen credits include Channel 4’s The Curse and BBC Two’s The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk) delivers a hilariously honest hour of stand-up about midlife, long-term love, and the quiet victories of sobriety.
Tickets: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ali-brice-this-is-the-way-we-brush-our-teeth
