More shows have been announced for The Pleasance venues at this summer's Edinburgh Fringe. Gigs will take place across 25 performance spaces at the Courtyard, the Dome and the EICC.
Comedy
Incredible comedians return to the Pleasance this summer. The Kiwi icon, Rhys Darby (pictured), is back after 13 years with The Legend Returns, a new stand-up show for 2025; in a world full of AI and Robot tech can a simple dad with slightly too-tight jeans stay relevant? Now Is The Time Of Monsters is a new show about discovery, wonder, extinction and how to walk through a landscape of monstrous disaster from three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee, Josie Long (pictured).
After a UK tour, Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Taskmaster, Ghosts, pictured) brings his all-star improv show, Kool Story Bro, back to where it all began for a strictly limited run - joined by a rotating cast of world-class improvisers plus a special guest each show! Following three sell-out shows, Chloe Petts is delving where she’s never delved before: Big Naturals is a show about sex but, the problem is that she blushes every time she says that word.
As seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week and his 2025 NextUp standup special, Andy Parsons is back with Please #@!$ Off To Mars. Marjolein Robertson brings us the final instalment of her trilogy combining folklore with stand-up to share her own personal stories – she’s covered the mind and body and now it’s time for the soul.
Comedian’s Choice Award winner, cult clown, and Fringe IT Girl Elf Lyons brings back her critically acclaimed Bird Trilogy for one final time. Comedic fireball Deirdre O’Kane is mad for road, mercilessly mining hilarity from the human condition but will she tame the mayhem or ‘O’Kane it’ in O'Kaning It.
Middle aged, newly single, Kathy Maniura has spent the salary of an NHS nurse in Decathlon and he’s on the verge of a breakdown; The Cycling Man is a goofy drag king show from this acclaimed character comedian. Hal Cruttenden is back with a brand-new show about middle aged dating, social media, the insanity of modern politics and the fragility of marriage that promises to stick it to ‘The Man’, as long as ‘The Man’ doesn’t stick it back to him because he Can Dish It Out But Can't Take It.
The Pleasance will also continue their commitment to championing superb new acts in 2025 with exciting newcomers. Worldwide sold-out sensations Simple Town now bring an hour of their best sketches to the Edinburgh Fringe. Fresh from Madison Square Garden, Seaton Smith tackles everything from social chaos to political absurdity, exploring life’s biggest (and pettiest) questions - including the fine art of sleeping with people you hate in Trauma Bonding.
Award-winning stand-up Hasan Al-Habib was born to Iraqis that moved to Birmingham after deciding Baghdad wasn’t dangerous enough; Death to the West (Midlands) is his debut show exploring racism, sectarianism and a high metabolism. Newcomers Ada & Bron invite you to third-wheel an unmissable hour of weirdo soulmates in The Origin of Love with debauchery, live music and cuckolding to the eleventh degree.
Improv legends Racing Minds return for their 12th year of unscripted escapades with Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised; hilarious characters, whip-smart wit and breathtaking twists will take hasty shape in this improvised comic adventure based entirely on audience suggestions!
Now in its 20th successful year, Best of Edinburgh Showcase Show is a great value lunchtime comedy club, with a changing daily line-up, that showcases established favourites and rising comedy stars from across the Fringe. Fast Fringe is an unmissable Fringe institution where 12 top comedy and variety acts (changing daily line-up) perform ridiculously short sets in one furiously fast-paced showcase, hosted by the best MCs around.
Theatre and Musicals
Much loved and lauded companies return to the Fringe this year. Set to bluegrass music and murder ballads, Bury The Hatchet is an irreverently presented, knee-slapping ensemble show from award- winning Out of the Forest Theatre (The Brief Life and Unexpected Death of Boris III) that fuses gallows humour and Vaudevillian horror, telling the story of Lizzie Borden. Tabloid media, conspiracy theorists, and familiar fairy-tale faces combine in this wild, hilarious musical from the Lawrence Batley Theatre that will have you hooked from the first note - The Uncrackable Case.
Inspired by the 1991 tribunal which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake, multi-award winning family-friendly musical makers Gigglemug Theatre present their latest sell-out smash hit comedy, A Jaffa Cake Musical, that really takes the biscuit (or cake...?). Celebrating its 10 year anniversary, the hit one-man show Cartoonopolis returns; this tour de force performance blends storytelling, multi-rolling and a whole heap of imagination in a captivating true family story about autism, overstretched services and a system not fit for purpose.
Plus there’s exciting international work and new musicals that will have you dancing in your seats. Faced with a spinal cord injury, Falling: A Disabled Love Story follows Aaron’s journey to understand this new body in the uncertain world of first loves, online dating, and sex; an uncomfortably sexy and hilariously vulnerable stumble through Aaron’s misadventures searching for love, lust, and life after disability.
Tickets for all shows are available at www.pleasance.co.uk and 0131 556 6550.
