Underbelly has unveiled a further 47 shows joining this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe line-up. The 2022 list includes a range of performance royalty alongside up and coming talent set to take Edinburgh by storm.
Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe runs from the 3 – 29 August 2022 across four sites: George Square, Circus Hub on the Meadows, Cowgate and Bristo Square. The line-up includes:
Cabaret and Variety highlights
Born at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004 and subsequently travelling the world to international acclaim, La Clique is widely regarded as the original Spiegeltent cabaret show that created a genre of its own. A decade on from winning the Best Entertainment Olivier Award and fresh from performances in London and Singapore, La Clique promises to be a night of laughs, gasps, naughtiness and the best in international cabaret.
The Tiger Lillies are back. After years away, touring the world, the Olivier Award-winning godfathers of alternative cabaret celebrate their 30th anniversary with a triumphant return to the Fringe. Based on the seminal 18th century ‘Beggar’s Opera’, the band presents a new song cycle One Penny Opera, a world of greed, crime, poverty, and inequality. Expect immense beauty and outrageous comedy from the Grammy-nominated, street opera trio.
Two of the world’s leading alcohol experts, The Thinking Drinkers, return with a hilarious quiz show that gets the rounds in – in more ways than one. With a pen and question sheet in one hand and several world-class drinks in the other, join them on a uniquely absurd, fact-filled journey through time in Pub Quiz. Following a sell-out show in 2018, magician Tom Brace takes a trip down memory lane to Cluedo, Roald Dahl and one film in particular from 1985…with a brand-new magic show for all ages, Embrace the impossible!
Circus highlights
A dazzling showcase of superhuman strength, speed, skill and flight, Circus Abyssinia blends together an unmissable performance of breath-taking contortion, awe-inspiring acrobatics and mesmerising fire-juggling with a rocking, exuberant soundtrack. After touring internationally, including a sell-out run in New York, they return to the Scottish capital with their greatly anticipated new show, Tulu.
Comedy highlights
Ireland’s finest hip hop musical comedian, is coming back to the Udderbelly with his biggest show yet. Using his trademark blend of audience interaction and razor-sharp improvisation, Abandoman will take you on a magical journey, transforming the audience’s likes, loathes and daydreams into hit songs and captivating tales.
Celebrated stand-up star, and now RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under judge, Rhys Nicholson is set to return with his unmissable Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!.
Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer nominee and new act of the year (NATYS) award winner Bilal Zafar returns with a brand-new show, CARE. Also joining the comedy line-up is Deirdre O’ Kane, there’s a point beyond burnout where all you can do is laugh, and she has well and truly reached it. Don’t miss the star of Sky’s The Deirdre O’Kane Show and Moone Boy, and the voice of Gogglebox Ireland, as she returns to Fringe with Demented.
99 problems. 50 minutes. 1 woman. 1 spider suit. 30 seconds per problem. An insufficient number of solutions. If you currently have or have ever had problems, the new show from award-winning comedian and journalist Ange Lavoipierre: I’ve Got 99 Problems and Here’s an Exhaustive List of them is absolutely for you. This frantic yet beguiling display of self-pity is the holiday from your own problems you’ve been waiting for.
Jason Byrne is set to host a second show at this year’s Fringe. The Paddy Lama-Shed Talks is a one-man play where Jason Byrne brings the full life of Paddy Byrne to the stage playing his dad, keeping him alive in stories full of laughter and tears. Totally unlike anything we’ve seen before from the comedy legend.
Another award-winning Irish comedian, Aidan Greene, has stammered since he was four years old. He’s managed to make that funny. But what if he had never stammered at all? I Know What You Did Last Stammer questions how having a disability can shape a life by looking at a life without it.
Drunk Women Solving Crime is returning to the Fringe following a sell-out debut Fringe run in 2019, this is a true crime podcast with a twist…of lime. Each episode sees the boozed-up panel of hilarious hosts Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn welcome a top guest to test out their drunk detective skills and solve true crime cases.
Acclaimed stand-up Dan Cook returns with a brand-new show of high-energy, contemplative idiocy, Loud Bit, Quiet Bit, Loud Bit, Quiet Bit. Another comedy legend set to return this year is Garry Starr with Greece Lightning, where audiences and an overzealous idiot attempt to perform all of Greek Mythology in less than 60 minutes to save his Hellenic homeland from economic ruin.
Fringe favourite Paul Foot returns with Swan Power. Following appearances on ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ on Channel 4 and ‘Breaking The News’ on BBC Radio Scotland, Paul is set to explore topics including Nanna on the rack, murdering Santas and interfering ambulance drivers (self-appointed busybodies!).
In its 4th year, Underbelly’s Big Brain Tumour Benefit returns for another stupendous evening of comedy to help fight against brain tumours. With previous year’s line-up including including Joel Dommett, Nina Conti, Russell Howard and Iain Stirling, this is the comedy event of the festival! Line-up announcements coming soon!
Theatre Highlights
Set to take the Fringe by storm is DESTINY. Following a teenage girl growing up on a Chippenham council estate: born below the breadline, desperate to see beyond the neighbourhood and find hope in hopelessness. Following sell-out Fringe runs in 2018 & 2019, Box Tale Soup returns with a new version of Swift’s incredible adventure: Gulliver tells tales of lands undiscovered and creatures unheard of, but is he really the same man who disappeared so long ago?
After a sold-out run, The B Collective returns with their exhilarating high-octane show Murder Ballads, adapted from the album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Weaving Cave’s outrageous songs into a darkly comic narrative, the performers take you through stories of betrayals, bar brawls and blood baths. With an interactive investigation involving karaoke, lip syncing and absolute bangers, Coming Out Of My Cage (And I’ve Been Doing Just Fine) is a theatre show to add to the top of your list this year. ‘Mr Brightside’ hasn’t left the UK charts in 18 years. How did it end up like this?
Children’s Shows highlights
The Gruffalo, the Giant and the Mermaid with Julia Donaldson is set to be a firm family favourite this year. Following a sell-out show in 2018, UK’s best-selling author Julia Donaldson returns with a brand-new show based on her much-loved books. Packed full of songs, puppetry, and audience interaction and with book signings after each performance, join Harry and Betty at their scarecrows wedding and see if the grumpy Go-Away Bird would like a friend after all.
As seen on Cbeebies’ ‘Maddie’s Do You Know?’ and CBBC’s Blue Peter and following the huge success of their YouTube family science show ‘Let’s Go Live’, Maddie and Greg can’t wait to challenge each other (and the audience!) in a battle of curiosity, creativity and silliness. Join them for an interactive family show packed with fun, facts, and supersized games at The Wonder Games with Maddie and Greg!
Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe runs from the 3 – 29 August 2022 across 19 venues and 4 sites; George Square, Circus Hub on the Meadows, Cowgate and Bristo Square. Further exciting programme details will be revealed in the coming months.
Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam, directors of Underbelly, said “After two scunnered years, we couldn’t be more delighted with our festival line-up which has something for everyone! The team have done a brilliant job in producing our most dynamic programme to date. With even more exciting acts still to come, watch this space for line-up announcements.”
Festival-goers can purchase tickets via the Underbelly website – www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk.
