Gilded Balloon, one of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s most iconic venues, is set to celebrate its 40th anniversary this August with a stellar line-up of legendary names. The Edinburgh-owned venue will welcome Alan Davies, Rosie O’Donnell, Smack the Pony, Caroline Rhea, Fred MacAulay, BBC Newscast, and a special In Conversation series across three venue hubs this summer. With almost 200 shows, Gilded Balloon marks 40 years of top talent and celebrates the very best in comedy.
Renowned as the Fringe’s original home of comedy, Gilded Balloon was founded in 1986 by Karen Koren. This summer, the female and family-run business will celebrate 40 years at the world’s biggest arts festival. The venue has hosted acts from Bill Bailey to Hannah Gadsby, Peter Kay, Tim Minchin, Maisie Adam, Jo Brand, and many more, evolving from a one-studio theatre with seven shows a day to its current 18 venues in three hubs, and 197 shows.
Karen and Katy Koren, Artistic Directors of Gilded Balloon, said, “We can’t believe it’s been 40 years since Gilded Balloon first presented shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, from small beginnings in the Cowgate. We’re so proud to still be working with some of the most exciting acts in the country at the world’s biggest arts festival. To mark our 40th anniversary, we’ve revisited our archive to revive iconic shows like Women in Comedy, and invite back some of Gilded’s closest friends and success stories like Alan Davies and Jenny Eclair, as well as a Fringe debut for the inimitable Rosie O’Donnell. We’re thrilled to throw back to the heyday of British sketch comedy with the likes of Smack the Pony and Oblivion Boys joining us and as always, our programme will showcase some of the very best rising talent in comedy as well as hard-hitting theatre and fantastic musicals. We look forward to celebrating 40 years of wonderful talent this summer.”
Alan Davies said, “The Gilded Balloon is my home from home at the Fringe so I’m delighted to be in their programme for my first Fringe show since their 30th anniversary in 2015. I never come to the festival without seeing something or doing something at Gilded Balloon – it’s an incredible achievement to run so many venues for so many decades while still championing the quirky, risky, bonkers Fringe shows we all love.”
Doon Mackichan, Fiona Allen, and Sally Phillips of Smack the Pony said, “This is slightly surreal because it’s 24 years since we finished – we’re not old comedy, we now qualify as vintage, which is cool. Is it? Because we always talk sketch ideas when we get together, on some level it’s almost as if Smack the Pony never really stopped – that it just kept going in some parallel universe. So it feels like Gilded Balloon is some kind of portal and we’ll be popping into catch up with Series 26. We’re very grateful to have this chance to hang out and take the piss out of ourselves again – we’ve missed it!”
Rosie O’Donnell said, “I’m beyond excited for my first Fringe Festival! I’m thankful to be a part of this historic gathering of artists of all shapes and sizes – I’m so happy to be included and hope you can stop by and say hello!”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
