It’s nearly time for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to take over the theatres, gyms, hotels, streets and pubs of Scotland’s Capital.
Taking place from August 2-26 (although there are previews in the days running up to the official launch), there are over 3,500 shows taking place, from music and dance, to theatre and spoken word.
The largest - and most high-profile - section of the programme is comedy, with the festival having the reputation of finding the television and film stars of the future.
Everybody from Steve Coogan to Richard Gadd had their big break at the Festival Fringe and there will be plenty of soon-to-be big names playing tiny venues this year.
Here are 13 shows that we reckon could be amongst the comedy highlights of 2024.
1. Sarah Keyworth
Sarah Keyworth's show 'My Eyes Are Up Here' won the award for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival so is one of the favourites for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. It's billed as a "a joyous new show about family, acceptance and a pair of big (well, not super-big) losses" and has alredy nearly sold out its run from August 1-25 at the Monkey Barrel. There's already an extra date at the cavernous Pleasance Grand on August 19 - expect more to follow. | Getty Images
2. Sheeps
If sketch comedy is your thing then it's hard to beat Sheeps for chaotic nonsense with some serious intelligence at its core. The three former members of Cambridge Footlights – Liam Williams, Alastair Roberts and Daran Johnson – made their debut at the 2010 Fringe and have gone onto write and star in the likes of Stath Lets Flats, Ladhood and Uncle. 'The Giggle Bunch (That's Our Name For You)' is their first new show in six years and you can check them out at the Pleasance from July 31-August 25. | Contributed
3. Phil Ellis
There was little funnier at last year's Fringe than Phil Ellis dressed as a feline, aggressively serenading audience members with the song Jellicle Cats. That show, which was a whistlestop tour of genres of live comedy, bagged him a place on the Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist. It's exciting to see what he'll do next with his new show 'Come On and Take The Rest of Me'. He's promising to "takesthings back to basics with an hour of pure and unapologetic stand-up" at the Monkey Barrel from July 31-August 25. | Contributed
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4. Jessie Cave
Former Harry Potter actor (she played Lavender Brown in the film series) Jessie Cave specialises in fiercely personal comedy that can often be as affecting as it is funny. Last year she brought a work in progress of new show 'An Ecstatic Display' to Edinburgh and she's back this August with the finished product. Covering "social anxiety and monogamy, couple's therapy and parenting failures" it's on at the Assembly Roxy from July 31-August 25. She's also sharing the stage with her real-life partner and fellow comedian Alfie Brown with a work in progress at Just The Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire from August 1-25. Expect a brutally-honest dissection of their often turbulent relationship. | Getty Images