Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023: 5 work in progress shows featuring big name comedians including John Robbins

One of the pleasures of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is seeing big names perform in tiny venues.

As Scotland’s Capital becomes the centre of the standup universe for three weeks, many famous comedians take the opportunity to test out new material in front of a comedy-literate audience.

Often announced at the last minute, these can commonly be at a bargain price, but demand is high – with the likes of Rose Mattafeo, Daniel Kitson, Rhod Gilbert, Rachel Parris and Nish Kumar having already sold out.

Here are five you can still bag a seat at.

David Baddiel. Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images

John Robins

The former Edinburgh Comedy Award winner shared the prize with future megastar Hannah Gadsby in 2017 when the two couldn't be separated by the judges. He’s back for the second year in a row with a Work in Progress show at the Just the Tonic Nucleus venue at 3.20pm throughout August – along with completed show ‘Howl’.

Jessie Cave

Multi-talented Harry Potter star (she played Lavender Brown), author, illustrator, playwright and standup Jessie Cave is somehow finding time to bring a Work in Progress show for a limited run this August. She's on at Just The Tonic Nucleus at 12.30pm every day from August 3-13.

Mawaan Rizwan

Actor, writer and comedian Mawaan Rizwan is set to star in his own six-part BBC television series, having already appeared in the likes of ‘Taskmaster’, ‘Live at the Apollo’, ‘Friday Night Live’ and ‘Big Fat Quiz’. He'll be at the Pleasance Courtyard trying out new material at 9.30pm from August 4-8 and 9-13.

David Baddiel

The former ‘Fantasy Football League’ and ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ star will be at the Monkey Barrell on August 4, 6 and 9, working through a revival of his three award-winning ‘Not The...’ theatre shows, starting with ‘Fame: Not The Musical’. The deeply-personal sets take a look back at his career, family, and being targeted by online trolls.

Simon Amstell

An eight night run at The Pleasance Courtyard will be ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ host Simon Amstell’s first appearance at the Fringe in six years. He’ll be testing out material he hopes will become the basis of a forthcoming UK tour. Expect him to take delight in teetering between the comic and the tragic.