The Underbelly has announced a new batch of comedy shows running at this summer's Edinburgh Fringe.
They include last year’s Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Simmons, while fellow Aussie Rhys Nicholson brings his Barry Award-nominated show from Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Americans Joe DeRosa (of Better Call Saul) and Liz Miele make their Edinburgh Festival debuts, Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe’s Jake Yapp brings his new show to the Wee Coo, and Australian character comic Steen Raskopoulos returns with a new solo show and an improv double-hander, The Bear Pack. Spencer Jones reprises his smash-hit Spencer Jones Is The Herbert in Proper Job and The Thinking Drinkers get boozy in Underbelly Med Quad.
The rest of the programme will go on sale on 12 May. Further details of the shows now on sale below. Book tickets here.
Tom Skelton
The year is 2061 and Tom Skelton is dead. This is the strange history of the intervening 45 years, as Tom's unborn son takes you on a masterful Orwellian odyssey. ‘Inventive and very enjoyable’ **** Mirror
Time: 4.30PM (5.30PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 29 August
Amée Smith: Relax, It’s Not About You
Amée Smith
Her hopes and dreams were on hold. It's taken heartbreak to see, she can do anything she sets her mind to. He wanted an Edinburgh show? She's got one! It's not about him.
Time: 3PM (4PM)
Venue: Underbelly Med Quad
Dates: 3 – 29 August
Best Boy
Best Boy
Double act Best Boy present an hour of sketches. Material heard on BBC Radio 4. 'Inspirational flair' (Chortle.co.uk). Finalists of So You Think That's Funny Best New Sketch Act 2015 and Golden Jester semi-finalists 2015. See them.
Time: 2.40PM (3.40PM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Best of Scottish Comedian of the Year
HaHa Comedy
**** (Scotsman). ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). Ten sell-out years. Fringe's biggest selling showcase of award-winning Scottish talent. 'SCOTY does attract some major talent' (Skinny). Rotating bills include Mark Nelson, Larry Dean, Daisy Earl and more.
Time: 11PM (12PM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Bourgeois & Maurice: How to Save the World Without Really Trying
Soho Theatre and Tim Whitehead Management in association with Underbelly
Hilarious original songs meet hyper surreal, high fashion in this political rally slash arena spectacular, performed in a damp cave, by two weirdos with dubious moral compasses. **** (Independent).
Time: 9.25PM (10.25PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate
Dates: 4 – 28 August
Card Ninja
Warning: This show contains ninjas, not magic! Back due to popular demand, Javier Jarquin brings a show featuring riotous displays of upbeat comedy and impressive card stunts for anyone who's ever wanted to be a little bit ninja...
Time: 1.30PM (2.30PM)
Venue: Udderbelly, George Square Dates: 25 – 28 August
Chris Stokes – The Man Delusion
Chris Stokes? Yes. Comedian? Absolutely. Award-winning? You betcha. Man...? Can you be more specific? ‘One impressive comic’ (NewStatesman.com). 'Genuine, uncontrived epiphanies as well as laughs' (Chortle.co.uk). ‘Hilarious’ (Scotsman).
Time: 8.10PM (9.10PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 8 August
Christian Talbot: C60
A stand-up comedy show about music, mixtapes and recording Top of the Pops off the telly. Winner of the 2014 Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award. 'An absolutely engaging performer' (Scotsman).
Time: 5.50PM (6.50PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad
Dates: 3 – 29 August
Colin Cloud: Exposé
Complete sell-out 2014 and 2015. A brand new show for 2016! Warning: do not think about anything you won't want Colin to know or reveal. 'A lesson in the art of deduction' (Skinny). ***** (Evening News).
Time: 9PM (10PM)
Venue: Underbelly Med Quad
Dates: 3 – 28 August
Croft & Pearce Are Not Themselves
Stars of BBC Radio 4's The Croft & Pearce Show. 'Edinburgh favourites' (Independent). 'A laugh-out-loud sketch show' (Daily Express). ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). ***** (One4Review.co.uk). **** (TheEdinburghReporter.co.uk). **** (Edinburgh Evening News).
Time: 2.40PM (3.40PM)
Venue: Underbelly George Square Dates: 3 – 28 August
Daniel Piper is in Four Gangs
Daniel Piper
Daniel Piper is in four gangs, and he's going to tell you about them. Daniel Piper is in Four Gangs is the uproarious debut from comedy storyteller Daniel Piper, who is in four gangs.
Time: 4PM (5PM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate
Dates: 4 – 28 August
David Mills: Shame!
Sharp and hilarious pop culture rants! ‘Is Mills’ show good enough for a Foster's? Yes! Essential viewing!' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). Cocktail
lounge-lizard 'bristling with sharp-tongued satire' **** (Fest). 'Legend in the making!' **** (FringeReview.co.uk).
Time: 5.20PM (6.20PM)
Venue: Underbelly George Square Dates: 3 – 28 August
Edinburgh Comedy Allstars
The biggest and brightest comedians at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe all in one huge show, staged in the famous Udderbelly. A one-stop shop for your comedy fix right in the beating heart of the festival.
Time: 11.45PM (12.45AM)
Venue: Udderbelly George Square
Dates: Fridays & Saturdays 5 – 27 August
Foil Arms and Hog: DoomDah
Ireland's top comedy trio. Sold out 2009-2015. Over four million hits on YouTube. Hilarious and surreal sketches from Fringe favourites Foil, Arms and Hog, with outrageous characters and unexpected twists. Book early. ***** (Irish Times).
Time: 9.50PM (10.50PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Geoff Norcott: Conswervative
A trade unionist's son who grew up on a council estate, Geoff Norcott is wondering how he ended up leaning to the right. 'An absolute tonic' **** (Telegraph). Writer: Alternative Election and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Time: 7.10PM (8.10PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 28 August
Good Kids: On Tap
Good Kids are back, and this time they've had a few. Join the fresh-faced Brummie boys for an hour down the local. Formerly of the Oxford Revue. 'Good Kids is a total blast' **** (FringeGuru.com).
Time: 9.30PM (10.30PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 28 August
Impromptunes – The Completely Improvised Musical
Australia's premier improv troupe brings its riotous musical comedy to Edinburgh Festival Fringe! It's unrehearsed. It's unpredictable. It's a whole lot of fun. It's Impromptunes. 'Remarkable' **** (Time Out). 'Improv gold' **** (Herald Sun).
Time: 5PM (6PM)
Venue: Underbelly Med Quad
Dates: 3 – 29 August
Jake Yapp Is One In A Million
Which, in a country with a population of 60 million, is nothing to crow about. Jake explores what makes us unique, with inimitable two-minute show summaries as seen on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe.
Time: 6.50PM (7.50PM)
Venue: Underbelly George Square Dates: 3 – 28 August
Joe DeRosa
US comic Joe DeRosa makes his highly anticipated UK debut. As seen on Better Call Saul, Inside Amy Schumer and Louie. Expect his trademark brand of brutal honesty and frustration at the world's workings!
Time: 9PM (10PM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate
Dates: 4 – 28 August
Joe Fairbrother’s Power Hour
Power yourself up with an hour of stand-up, film and chat. Essentially, it's Spielberg meets Kilroy. But without the unsavoury politics of Kilroy. 'Hilarious' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). 'Delightful' (List). 'Very funny' (RemoteGoat.com).
Time: 8.30PM (9.30PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 27 August
John Robertson: The Dark Room
You're trapped in a dark room! Pick an option: A) Find Light Switch. B) Cry C) Go North. Play a live-action Text-Based Adventure Game! ***** (Skinny, ThreeWeeks, FringeReview.co.uk). ’Not to be missed' (Guardian).
Time: 8.30PM (9.30PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 27 August
Karen Hobbs: Tumour Has It
An honest and hilarious account of a young woman's cervical cancer extravaganza. Karen will share all the gore and glory, spreading awareness and her legs. Come and laugh at two awkward subjects: vaginas and cancer. Genre: Comedy
Time: 2.50PM (3.40PM)
Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 28 August
Laughing Stock
Award-winning, five-star sketch comedy. Expect another 'fast and furious hour of fun' (Sunday Express). 'A riot from start to finish... together they are positively electric' (EdFringeReview.com). ***** (MumbleTheatre.net). **** (Sunday Express), WestEndFrame.com, EdFringeReview.com).
Time: 3.40PM (4.40PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Liz Miele: Mind Over Melee
Liz Miele lets you into the world of an outspoken but anxiety-ridden New Yorker as she shares her stories and struggle with traveling abroad, mental illness in her family and conquering adulthood.
Time: 6.40PM (7.40PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Lunch
Luke Courtier (Musical Comedy Awards finalist, Amused Moose Laugh Off, Radio 4 Extra) presents Lunch, a new musical comedy show about the violent narrative perils of a mealtime that we all thought fairly benign and completely and utterly harmless.
Time: 6.20PM (7.20PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Masud Milas: Routes
Looking as fly as a Blaxploitation cop and called 'one to watch' by Time Out, the plucky Masud Milas brings his weird-ass accent and a debut show about growing up in a place you're not from.
Time: 6.50PM (7.50PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 28 August
Patrick Melton: My Least Favorite Everything
American comedian Patrick Melton debuts at the Fringe, feverishly deconstructing his numerous frustrations with a collection of unlikely personal stories and commentaries on the absurd, delivered with a sharpened hint of spontaneity.
Time: 10.50PM (11.50PM) Venue: Underbelly Med Quad Dates: 3 – 29 August
Paul Foot: ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Piglet
This year Professor Ketchup and his camembert piglet join forces as Paul tackles the big issues such as terrorism. Plus, Ant and Dec, immigration X factor and breakfast. 'Sublime, original... brilliant' (Independent).
Time: 7.20PM (8.20PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Rhys Nicholson – Bona Fide
Reading the blurb? Congratulations. Now when someone asks if you read, you can say yes. Rhys is really giving this comedy thing a go. It should be OK. Last year went OK. Comedy's super subjective.
Time: 9.20PM (10.20PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Sam Fletcher: Daftwerk
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee and CBBC star presents a heady blend of jokes, lo-fi showbiz flair, idiotic theatrics and genuine (sort of) magic. 'An uplifting hotch-potch' **** (Independent). 'A total pro' **** (Times).
Time: 4PM (5PM)
Venue: Underbelly George Square Dates: 3 – 28 August
Sam Simmons: Not a People Person
Soho Theatre, Token Events, Mason Sisters @ PBJ, Underbelly
Winner Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award 2015. A brand new hour of mind- blending internal self-hatred, paranoia and comedy – because you have to put comedy in it. ***** (Time Out). ***** (Times).Time: 8.15PM (9.15PM) Venue: Underbelly Potterrow Dates: 3 – 28 August
Spank!
Underbelly Productions, James Wren, Leon Fleury and Corrie McGuire for ROAR Comedy
Spank! returns for an incredible 13th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and gratuitous nudity. With the most exciting comedy and cabaret talent on the Fringe, don't miss the 'best wild night out' (Scotland on Sunday) at the festival!
Time: 12AM (3AM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 5 – 28 August
Spencer Jones is The Herbert in Proper Job
BAFTA-nominated star, Spencer Jones, returns for another joyful burst of his Edinburgh Fringe hit of 2015. ‘One of the silliest, most consuming shows of the Fringe’ ***** (Times). **** (Time Out).
Time: 5.20PM (6.20PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
Steen Raskopoulos – You Know The Drill
Underbelly Productions with Token Events and Dawn Sedgwick Management Fosters Award: Best Newcomer nominee. Co-star of BBC3’s Top Coppers returns (after a sell-out Edfringe 2014) with a cavalcade of unique comedy characters and inspired spontaneity. 'A superstar in the making' **** (Independent).
Time: 7.40PM (8.40PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 4 – 28 August
The Bear Pack
The Bear Pack is Steen Raskopoulos (BBC's Top Coppers) and Carlo Ritchie bringing improvised storytelling inspired by your suggestions. It's the steamship of hilarity you've been waiting for, don't let it sail away without you.
Time: 10.20PM (11.20PM) Venue: Underbelly Cowgate Dates: 16 – 28 August
The Thinking Drinkers: Around the World in 80 Drinks
Enjoy free drinks with award-winning alcohol aficionados on their hilarious, elbow-bending exploration, featuring hooch-laden Hindus and imbibing Arctic adventurers. As seen on Channel 4. 'Hugely funny... fascinating' **** (Edinburgh Evening News[).
Venue: Underbelly Med Quad
Time: 8.30PM (9.30PM)
Dates: 3 – 29 August
Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop
Fresh from sell-out shows in New York and LA, this hilarious pair of spandex- wearing wonder clowns take you on an absurd trip through their wild imagination, into the darkest depths of stupidity, depravity and pure idiocy! Genre: Comedy
Time: 5.20PM (6.20PM)
Venue: Underbelly Cowgate
Dates: 4 – 28 August
Already on sale with Underbelly...
Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel
Austentatious and Underbelly Productions
An all-star cast improvise a long-lost Austen novel before your very eyes. Hilarious and unique. Swooning guaranteed. 'Joyously performed' ***** (Times). 'One of the most enjoyable 60 minutes on the Fringe' **** (Guardian). Genre: Comedy
Time: 1.30PM (2.30PM)
Venue: Udderbelly George Square Dates: 5 – 21 August