Voicebox: Edinburgh Fringe

Edinburgh Fringe Festival makes its triumphant return this year to celebrate it’s seventy-fifth anniversary. 3,000+ acts are performing though which makes it easy to be inundated, so here are my top picks as a Fringe newbie to check out.

Mabel Thomas’ one-woman show is as compelling as it is disquieting.

Mandla Rae introspectively explores their thought processes in a video performance. They depict life as a refugee from Zimbabwe, and how family dynamic, local systemic racism, and identity confusion intertwine and have made them who they are today. 

Deeply personal and conscious of its own format, Farah’s Ellipsis opens up the symbiotic relationship between audience and comic in this stand-up show that uses her own experiences to criticise British society’s grief culture

Janine Harrington’s dance piece hypnotizes and entrances in a homage to screensaver programmes.

Basil Brush is back at the Edinburgh Fringe bringing a sequel to his previously sold-out adult show back in 2019

“A post-menopausal straight, white woman with a Facebook page… kill me now!”

As utterly baffling as it is captivating. In this absurd, clownish performance Julia Masli combines highly experimental comedy with mesmerising visual lunacy to create… I’m not entirely sure what.

An enjoyably daft and visually captivating take on the absurdity of customer service jobs.

A mature depiction of the tumultuous life of a young carer and her brother, Wish List gives voice to a struggle many of us have little knowledge of. 

A promising debut production that unfortunately falters in its writing and pacing, Madhouse depicts the chaotic nature of student living with its rag-tag cast of characters.

A one-man show starring Michael Patrick, My Left Nut addresses the distress of a swollen testicle and sets this against the backdrop of adolescence, culminating in a hilarious show at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.