As we approach another fantastic summer at the Pleasance Courtyard, additional shows have been announced to join the Pleasance Theatre Trust’s unmissable Edinburgh Fringe line-up. With 129 exciting new additions across the comedy and theatre programmes, spanning the 25 performance spaces at the Courtyard, the Dome, and the EICC, here are some of the top picks from the programme.
Comedy
More incredible comedians at the top of their game have joined the Pleasance’s line-up. Edinburgh Comedy Award Winners Adam Riches and John Kearns will be a special highlight in the comedy programme, as they bring their award-nominated, 5-star sensation, Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE ‘Ball & Boe’ to the Pleasance Grand for three nights only. Other highlights include a Pleasance debut for the internationally acclaimed Emmanuel Sonubi (Live At The Apollo, QI), with his deeply personal yet laugh-out-loud show, Life After Near Death, and four-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Kieran Hodgson who returns to the Pleasance with his exploration of the American Dream.
Thanyia Moore (Mock The Week, Alma’s Not Normal) returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, while Edinburgh Comedy Award ‘Best Show’ nominee Glenn Moore (Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week) performs another 300 jokes for Pleasance audiences. Ivo Graham, the Taskmaster promise-squanderer, published author, and gig pig, embarks on the latest chaotic chapter of his career with Orange Crush. Jenny Ryan (ITV’s The Chase) is finally ready to go public with her theory of the Mamma Mia Multiverse, and musical meteor Jazz Emu was born to please. “Total and Utter Audience Satisfaction” is his middle name – he’ll be living up to his middle-namesake in 2025.
Fringe favourites returning to Pleasance include award-winning character-comedian Lorna Rose Treen, a glistening new stand-up hour from Sam Nicoresti, and Shaparak Khorsandi, one of Britain’s most beloved and most scatterbrained stand-ups. They will be joined by critically acclaimed cat lady comedian Katie Norris, ‘extraordinary ventriloquist’ (Guardian) Lachlan Werner, as well as selfless hero and Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award 2024 ‘Most Outstanding Show’ Nominee, Ray O’Leary.
Must-see debut hours include a joyfully absurd show about pigeons from Toussaint Douglass, shortlisted ‘British Comedian of the Year’ (despite being Norwegian) Thor Stenhaug, musings upon success from Pedro Leandro, and Emmy-nominated KC Shornima. Rory Marshall brings his debut show, Pathetic Little Characters, and Amelia Hamilton presents a high-energy stand-up hour set to an original soundtrack of live rap. Ayoade Bamgboye asks life’s big questions and provides absolutely no answers in Swings and Roundabouts, while internet sensation Sophie Garrad tackles class, identity and privilege in her unfiltered debut Poor Little Rich Girl.
Incredible alumni from the coveted Pleasance Comedy Reserve will also be making their respective debuts this year. Sharon Wanjohi has been making waves on the circuit with her take on the lack of Gen-Z homeowners. Shalaka Kurup convinces her therapist that there’s something wrong in Get A Grip, while patron saint of bisexuals Sam Williams has a confession to make. The reigning Leicester Square New Comedian champion, Rohan Sharma will present his hotly-anticipated debut in a fast-paced, multimedia odyssey.
Further highlights from the Pleasance’s Edinburgh comedy programme include Abnormally Funny People, which will celebrate 20 years with a changing line-up of the world’s funniest disabled comedians. For 2 nights only, Sheeps, their full live-band and some very special guests will be performing songs from their chart-placing debut Christmas album. Breaking the Musical is a parody and unauthorised (but completely legal) telling of an Australian Olympian’s journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics, through a fusion of dance, music and humour, written by Australian comedian and musician Stephanie Broadbridge. And Radio 4 favourite, comedy legend, and ‘the 42nd best reason to love Britain’ (The Telegraph), John Shuttleworth is back where it all began in the Pleasance Upstairs, celebrating 40 years in showbiz with more hilarious stories and songs performed on his trusty Yamaha organ.
Finally, it wouldn’t be the Fringe without Mark Watson (Taskmaster, Baby Reindeer) who will explore a recent encounter with a stranger, the worst word he has ever said in public and the state of the UK sausage industry.
Theatre, Musicals, Children’s Shows and Magic
Theatre Re’s The Nature Of Forgetting will be performed in the Grand as part of the Pleasance’s Edinburgh theatre programme, as the explosive and joyous 5-star sell-out international hit about how memory is passed down returns. The deeply moving, ‘action-packed celebration of life’ (BBC Radio 4) explores intergenerational relationships through profound wordless storytelling, as audiences journey through a wave of resurfacing memories.
The captivating Flamenco dance musical LOLA mixes jazz and Latin pop, with the exhilarating power of Flamenco. Set in Spain’s economic depression during Franco’s dictatorship, the Flamenco Love Story tells an uplifting story of a bereaved young mother of two, on a captivating and emotional journey about overcoming obstacles and fear, to find hope and love.
Blaze FM is the heart and soul of raw new music. Taking Pleasance audiences back to the mid-2000s with electrifying Political Gig Theatre from The Big House, Blaze FM explores the fight to keep the station alive, against all odds. After a billion years of bad dates, Earth has finally found the one… Humanity, in Hot Mess: A New Musical. The Birmingham Hippodrome associated musical begins as a passionate love affair between the universe’s most iconic couple quickly descends into a Hot Mess, in this new original pop musical about love, hope, and the ultimate break up.
The Pleasance theatre programme continues to champion new writing this Summer. Actor and playwright Annie Lareau explores her time surrounding the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in Fuselage. The love story to cherishing relationships in this fragile and unpredictable world intertwines the budding lives of young artists with voices from those in Lockerbie who tended to the crash, set against the ticking clock of prophetic nightmares and a terrorist plot.
In a world where grown-ups have forgotten how to see with their hearts, The Little Prince discovers beauty, wisdom, and the importance of human connection in this delightful children’s show. In association with The Egg Theatre Royal Bath, Toby Thompson’s spellbinding solo performance reminds audiences of what truly matters, as his twinkling adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved novel captures its poetic essence and philosophical depth.
Fringe favourite Tom Brace also returns to the Pleasance with his most daring magic show yet. Brace is aiming to enter the ‘Magic Hall of Fame’ by attempting a world first; sawing HIMSELF in half. Edinburgh audiences will be whisked on a journey through the best tricks and illusions from magical history as he navigates what it really takes to become a legend of magic.
Other highlights across the theatre programme include Mariupol, fresh from a triumphant run at The Cockpit in Marylebone and smash hit Hold On To Your Butts, also returns to the Pleasance, as well as the creators’ new UK premiere – Fly You Fools. One young woman from East London is determined to get to the bottom of why ‘no one has house parties anymore’ and the state of the nation in House Party, while Box Tale Soup bring their ingenuity and slick storytelling to a unique take on Orwell’s classic, 1984.
With more shows to be announced over the coming months, there will be comedy, theatre, circus, magic, dance, kids’ shows and much more, alongside support for some of the most innovative newcomers through artist development strand Pleasance Futures. There’s nowhere quite like the Pleasance at Fringe!
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
