Best Fringe Comedy: Here are all the four and five star comedy shows at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe - according to the Scotsman critics
If you are looking to book a show during the remainder of the Fringe, our critics have been busy dashing between performances to give you the inside scoop on what’s worth your time.
These are all of the comedy shows that have received a four or five star review from the Scotsman thusfar – and what our arts experts had to say about them. Click on the title of the show to read the full review.
They can all be booked at www.edfringe.com.
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Hide Ad"Good is actually rather wonderful. Swiftly add it to your festival show-going list." (Jay Richardson)
"Throw in some callously snarky jibes at the romantic life of Rupert Murdoch and despairing wit about the climate crisis, and you have a form of satire that feels very unBritish – partisan, angry, loud, and all the better for it." (Jay Richardson)
"The extremity of her psychological pain has found a thoughtful, even wry storyteller to share it, at times detached in a way that's quite remarkable, even if some aspects understandably bring her to tears." (Jay Richardson)
"One of those rare examples where the show and the person behind it genuinely seem to be coming together and re-emerging stronger before your eyes. Incredible." (Jay Richardson)
"The show is a perfect example of expert use of the philosopher's comedy stone. Dr Silcox never cracks a smile, never misses a beat and the funny just keeps coming. Weird and wonderful." (Kate Copstick)
"He's wonderfully communicative...conveying streetwise intelligence, feigned pique and genuine anger with subtle shifts in expression." (Jay Richardson)
"He’s been doing this a long time, and he knows how to land the laughs." (Claire Smith)
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Hide Ad"Five stars somehow feel inadequate for this joyous, hilarious, brilliant, witty, sparkly campfest of a show." (Kate Copstick)
"There’s something utterly refreshing about Munnery’s shows. You come out feeling like you’ve had a bath, an afternoon nap or a walk in the woods." (Claire Smith)
"It’s a pleasure to spend time with Ince, who manages to be both funny and inspirational." (David Hepburn)
Bliss is a pleasure to spend eternity with, with some of his later characterisations, such as Albert Einstein and Vincent Van Gogh's renegade, rejected ear, some of the most entertainingly sketched. (Jay Richardson)
"Not absolutely everything hits the mark but that doesn't really matter, because that which is not hilarious is at least intruiguing and engaging." (Kate Copstick)
"An exquisitely realised, understated delight." (Jay Richardson)
"Just about the highest compliment you can pay to Treen's Fringe debut is that the moment it finishes, you instantly want to spend more time in several of her creations' company." (Jay Richardson)
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Hide Ad"You won’t regret spending an hour with Myra DuBois." (Claire Smith)
"From the American's first note you're aware that you're witnessing a phenomenal stage presence who's got the skills repertoire to be huge." (Jay Richardson)
"A comedian of this much experience, skill and heart can pretty much create comedy out of anything life flings at them." (Kate Copstick)
"This is how to make a Fringe introduction." (Jay Richardson)
"It’s an ambitious and spectacular show but Laser Kiwi retain a loveable folksy charm which encourages us to see the personality and not just the skill." (Claire Smith)
"With wit, precision and more than a little mischief, she tells us how it feels to grow up in a time when it became more acceptable to talk about mental health than ever before." (Claire Smith)
"This is a lovely, relaxed, low-key set." (Kate Copstick)
"The rejuvenating effects are a delight to behold." (Jay Richardson)
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Hide AdMagliano is a truly original voice with an impressive set of skills." (Claire Smith)
"Reuben Solo's Fringe debut is craftily intricate and exceptionally showy, nakedly, hungrily so." (Jay Richardson)
"This is a gag-packed hour, full of smart social observation as well as stilted, human pain." (Jay Richardson)
"Electrifying the Queen Dome with their big, bold tunes, songwriting flair and irresistible feminist fierceness, Flat and the Curves are a powerhouse cabaret act that burn with the wattage of four distinct stars." (Jay Richardson)
"This is exactly what the Fringe needs this year. Every cleverly silly second of it." (Kate Copstick)
"This utterly delightful and unexpectable hour is so cleverly woven together that the comedy and the sadness and the music and all of its moving parts actually become an endearing whole." (Kate Copstick)
"The wellspring of that stage charisma, his dysfunctional offstage relationships, is mighty." (Jay Richardson)
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Hide Ad"With his striking devil horn hairdo and kohl-eyed, shadowy make-up, gradually flattening and fading under the hot lights as he progressively grows more sincere, Foxx is an impressively accomplished act." (Jay Richardson)
"The chemistry in the room is absolutely electric." (Deborah Chu)
"Oddball, attractively unhinged stand-up." (Jay Richardson)
"Natalie Perlin is a glorious burst of fearless female funny." (Kate Copstick)
"One of the most boundary-free, vivaciously charismatic stand-ups currently plying their trade in UK comedy." (Jay Richardson)
"Sid Singh has been a pretty good, smart comic for a while now, but in this show, it somehow all clicks." (Kate Copstick)
"With great confidence, wit and mischief to match, it's surely only a matter of time before she becomes a television fixture." (Jay Richardson)
"As a stand-up, he's nimble at ad-libbing around audience reactions, the smugness and guilt." (Jay Richardson)
"This is an utterly delightful show – clever, rebellious, absurd and gloriously gloriously silly." (Claire Smith)
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