Olga Koch Comes from Money

Olga Koch stepped into the big league at Fringe 2023 with a show, , pairing sassy tales of a transnational hookup with a thoughtful critique of soul-baring comedy. The 31-year-old now grapples with even thornier autobiographical content in a show about wealth and relatability.

Emma Sidi is Sue Gray

A star of and soon-to-be contestant on series 18 of Taskmaster, cut her teeth way back when as a character comic on the Edinburgh fringe. Now she returns with an intriguing new offering, in disguise as the grand inquisitor of Partygate turned power behind Keir Starmer’s throne.

Bobby Davro: Everything is Funny… If You Can Laugh at It

No fringe is complete without some arriving in town to test themselves against the kids. Sometimes that’s a revelation; sometimes . This year, variety veteran and ex-EastEnder Bobby Davro bounces back after suffering a stroke onstage just six months ago. Can his material fly on the fringe? Let’s see.

Rose Matafeo: On and On and On

With a work-in-progress last year and a stint with improv troupe Snort the year prior, has been no stranger to the fringe since then breaking out with her . But On and On and On is her first full solo show since prize-winner Horndog and bound to be the hottest of tickets.

Demi Adejuyigbe is Going to Do One (1) Backflip

Another Edinburgh, another clutch of transatlantic imports, bidding to be – as , Catherine Cohen, Doug Stanhope once were – this year’s little-known US arrival to take the fringe by storm. Might Adejuyigbe (a writer for James Corden’s CBS show, among other credits) fill the role in 2024 with a show promising “original comedic songs, presentations and one single backflip”?

Mhairi Black: Politics Isn’t for Me

Goodness knows there’s been little to laugh about in Westminster these last few years. But – once the youngest MP elected since the 1832 Reform Act – is turning her experience there into comedy with a debut fringe hour promising “brutal honesty” about her 10+ years in the Commons.

Kemah Bob: Miss Fortunate

Some comics make their name on the fringe. Plenty do so without going near the place. UK-based Texan makes her Edinburgh debut this year with Miss Fortunate but has already staked out ample space with club night FOC It Up alongside TV stints on House of Games. Her first fringe bow will be keenly anticipated.

Dan Tiernan: Stomp

Quite the debut last year from the young Mancunian, whose show raged (with a twinkle) at Tiernan’s lot in life: gay but straight-seeming; dyspraxic; at odds with his sickeningly nice stepdad. A best newcomer nomination followed – and so expectations raised for his follow-up.-

Sheeps: The Giggle Bunch (That’s Our Name for You)

Long is the list of TV successes shared by Ladhood creator Liam Williams, Stath Lets Flats star Al Roberts and the writer Daran Johnson. But before all that, they were – and still are – the , fringe favourites now returning with a new suite of sketches: tricksy, silly and all points in between.

One-Man Musical by Flo & Joan

Musical? Certainly. One man? That’s not how are usually described. They’re up to something, the singing Dempsey sisters, who pivot from their usual cabaret to musical theatre with this “original one-man musical about a very renowned gentleman”. (For purists, they also have their own songs-and-jokes show elsewhere in town.)

John Tothill: Thank God This Lasts Forever

What the teacher turned standup John Tothill made at last year’s fringe with an unlike-anything-else faux sermon on hedonism and transcendence through history. Camp, flirty and delighted with everything, the Essex man now returns with … well, something to do with biblical plagues, by the look of things.

Jessie Cave: An Ecstatic Display

After the Harry Potter movies, but before the bestselling novel renaissance woman delivered a trio of terrific comedy shows exposing to fringe audiences the entrails of her worrisome, complicated life. Mini-masterpieces of oversharing, self-scrutiny and emotional intelligence, they are now joined by the latest instalment.

Trygve Wakenshaw: Silly Little Things

It’s seven years since last visited the fringe, where he was, for a while, the inheritor of Dr Brown’s mantle as hippest silent comic du jour. Lanky, limb-y, forever following his clown logic in surprising directions, the Kiwi announced himself a pretender to Mr Bean’s crown then dropped under the radar. Until now.

These Are the Contents of My Head (The Annie Lennox Show)

It made quite the impression, the London debut of New York cabaret star Salty Brine last year, with his . That’s Salty’s trick – to twist classic albums into startling new shapes onstage. Now Annie Lennox gets the treatment in a show “about strong, defiant women and the little gay boy who loves them”.

Jordan Brookes: Fontanelle

A Jordan Brookes show is never not intriguing – is always likely to upend your expectations of a standup show. Five years after his Edinburgh comedy awards triumph, the outlier returns with a new set about the Titanic, how we mine content from disasters and – doubtless – about the (ship)wreckage of his own life too.

Hannah Gadsby: Woof!

In 2017, Hannah Gadsby publicly quit comedy with – and won the Edinburgh comedy award for it. A Netflix special and global impact followed. Now they return to the fringe for the first time since Nanette with a looser and cheerier set about adjusting to life as a fulfilled standup megastar.

Natalie Palamides: WEER

She can’t see a boundary without wishing to push it, – as fans of her hit stage and then Netflix show, the cross-dressing, #MeToo-teasing Nate, will know. This year, the American is back with “an achingly tender 90s romantic dramedy” starring Palamides as both lovers. Expect fireworks.

Urooj Ashfaq: It’s Funny to Me (WIP)

One half, with Ahir Shah, of last year’s at the comedy awards, Urooj Ashfaq walked off with the newcomer gong for It showcased a bubbly, deceptively charming act still honing her voice – which may be where this year’s work-in-progress follow-up comes in …

Takashi Wakasugi: Welcome to Japan

Nominated for the Melbourne comedy festival’s award, Wakasugi majors in cross-cultural comedy casting an eastern eye on western mores. It’s a familiar standup mode which the Japan native elevates with a pleasing kookiness and faux arrogance. Will his Aussie-centric shtick translate to the UK? This fringe debut will reveal all.

Adam Riches: Jimmy

Where better than the fringe to throw unlikely performance ideas at the stage? has thrown a few in his time: outrageous character shows (one of which won him the 2011 Edinburgh comedy award), interactive whodunnits – and now an is-it-comedy, is-it-drama? recreation of 1980s tennis ace Jimmy Connors’ epic last hurrah.