With 51 shows now on sale, 2018 promises to be one of Pleasance’s most exciting years to date. Comedy, theatre, circus, puppetry and much more fill this year’s programme with a dazzling selection of entertainment.
Drop dead gorgeous, sassy and smart, Ruby Wax brings her one-woman show Frazzled back to Edinburgh after its sell-out success in 2017. The poster girl for mental illness, she gives a tour of the mind and how to use it, not lose it. Based on her best seller The Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled Ruby sure as hell knows her stuff.
All your favourites can be found at the Pleasance and multi-award-winning Edinburgh cult hit Rob Kemp is back (Winner – Best Performer, Comedians Choice Awards Edinburgh 2017; Nominee – Best Newcomer, Edinburgh Comedy Award 2017); take a trip to a cabin in Tennessee to witness the horror movie Evil Dead 2 reinterpreted through the songs of Elvis Presley!
Another Edinburgh Comedy Award 2017 nominee Ed Night brings An Aesthetic to The Bunker plus Best Show Nominee Jordan Brookes returns to the Pleasance this summer. Fellow 2017 nominee Elf Lyons joins the illustrious venue with her kooky one-woman musical about the economy.
2018 sees the long-awaited Fringe debut from The Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue with props, music and, oh yes, sandals! Other Pleasance newcomers for 2018 are Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year nominee George Rigden with his hotly-anticipated debut show, Heidi Regan’s debut show (Winner of BBC New Comedy Award 2017) exploring our relationship with an increasingly confusing world via the medium of bad shark films and laugh out loud Short & Curly.
Plus, Stevie Martin, one third of critically-acclaimed sketch group Massive Dad, presents her debut solo show. Expect comedy. Expect laughing. Expect a stage. Do not expect a live horse because there won’t be one. You’ve seen Stevie on Channel 4’s Damned, Russell Howard’s Good News Comedy Central’s Brotherhood and BBC Radio 4’s Sketchorama and now it’s time to catch her in Pleasance Below.
Three alumni of the Pleasance’s ‘Comedy Reserve’ bring even more laughter to this year’s programme; Brennan Reece, voice of ITV’s Survival Of The Fittest, returns to the Fringe after his previous sell-out successes, John Hastings makes us laugh with his tale of displacement, death and denial and Chris Turner brings his unique style of tricksy wordplay, nice references and jaw-dropping freestyle rap.
Pleasance wouldn’t be the same without its amazing returning acts so this year sees double Chortle Award nominee Kiri Pritchard-McLean talk about victims, love and lies, Mock The Week regular and star of Live At The Apollo Gary Delaney and the fantastically talented Mawaan Rizwan. Don’t miss incredible impressionist Luke Kempner host an ultimate reality show where no celebrity is off limits.
And, of course, the ten-time sell-out sensation The Noise Next Door return along with Fast Fringe where twelve top comedy and variety acts perform ridiculously short sets in one furiously fast-paced showcase.
Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Adam Riches is back with two shows; Adam Riches is Coach Coach 2: Coach Harder, a mashup of interactive theatre and beer-splittingly funny improvised comedy and Adam Riches is The Lone Dueller – a brand new show unlike anything else with swords, sex and maybe even swords having sex!
The Grand will host Infinita, an extraordinary piece of physical theatre from mask theatre masters Familie Floz who previously presented popular hits including Hotel Paradiso and Teatro Delusio. Favourites Tall Stories bring two new works to Edinburgh – The Canterville Ghost where four valiant vaudevillians present their terrifying take on Oscar Wilde’s most gruesome ghost story and Wilde Creatures where a motley crew of storytelling musicians bring Oscar Wilde’s classic fairy tales to life in this magical new show direct from London’s West End.
Also going on sale today is Enter the Dragons, a riotous, surreal odyssey exploring the pressures facing women as they age, Weird by Some Riot Theatre focussing on the moving effects of one person’s mental health on a whole family; Kika’s Birthday, a delightful, interactive story, with puppetry, for all the family and Michael Morpurgo’s dazzling story of Kensuke’s Kingdom.
There are many more incredible Pleasance shows still to come alongside support for some of the most innovative newcomers through artist development strand Pleasance Futures. The Pleasance should certainly be the pick of your Fringe this August.
