Gilded Balloon has announced another 150 for this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Housed across five major venue hubs, including the brand new Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose and Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market, this is Gilded Balloon’s biggest programme in its history – with 90 more shows still to be unveiled in May.
Jan Ravens (pictured) – the star of Dead Ringers, and a more effective Theresa May than the woman herself – returns to Gilded Balloon due to phenomenal demand, having completely sold out her Fringe runs in 2017 and 2018. Who Do I Think I Am? promises to feature impressions of public follies and private anxieties whilst continuing to expertly skewer the big names of the day.
Winner of Britain’s Got Talent, Lost Voice Guy (pictured), is back with his latest hour, I’m Only In It for the Parking. He may not be able to talk, but his new show will leave you speechless. Making his official Fringe debut is Konstantin Kisin (pictured), who made international headlines last year by refusing to sign a ‘safe space’ contract for a University gig. His debut, Orwell That Ends Well, offers a fiercely intelligent and uncompromising look at free speech and modern ‘wokeness’. Meanwhile, Derry Girls’ Tommy Tiernan takes to the Debating Hall once more with Paddy Crazy Horse, an exuberant, theatrical and sweary celebration of everything that’s wild, wrong and wonderful about being alive right now.
Fresh from sold out seasons in Adelaide and Melbourne comes the absurd, insane and unparalleled Demi Lardner with Ditch Witch 800. It’s ostensibly about Shrek, but if Lardner’s earlier shows are to go by, this ‘erratic typhoon of eccentricity’ (Chortle) will be anything but. Winner of So You Think You’re Funny? and 2018 Best Newcomer nominee, Maisie Adam, brings her highly-anticipated sophomore show, Hang Fire, whilst Gingzilla, ‘the belle of the Fringe’s most debaucherous ball’ (Ed Fest Mag), will lead a brand-new iteration of her cult Fringe show Late Night Lip Service. Looking for hard answers from our political leaders? Award-winning LBC Radio presenter and CNN political commentator Iain Dale will be joined on his chat show by the likes of Nicola Sturgeon, John McDonnell and Sadiq Khan.
The Fringe’s original home of comedy also boasts Jojo Sutherland’s first solo show in five years; an all-new hour from self-professed right-wing comic Leo Kearse; the award-winning, anarchic buffoonery of The Kagools; a quest to secure the part of Mary, Mother of God, with Alison Spittle; an evisceration of the political car crash that is Brexit from Mark Nelson; the speccy wee future of Glaswegian stand-up in the shape of Christopher Macarthur-Boyd; Comedy Award-winner Scott Gibson tackling depression, darkness and defecating in the bath in White Noise, whilst teaming up with Harriet Dyer for the two-hander That’s Not a Lizard, That’s My Grandmother; and there’s Jammy, a show about luck and chance from the critically-acclaimed Jay Lafferty, currently on tour in Scotland with her total sell-out show, Wheesht!
Making their Fringe comedy debuts this year alongside Kisin are Esther Manito, Daisy Earl, Zach Zimmerman, Paralympic Gold Medalist Liam Malone, Sumit Anand,Richard Stott, Brodi Snook, Sukh Ojla, Grace Campbell – daughter of one of the most divisive figures in Labour’s history, Alistair Campbell – and Christopher KC, with the spectacularly titled Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Rice.
On the theatre front, Phil Nichol and Mike McShane star in an adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie; currently on a national tour of The Bench, Scottish playwright Keir McAllister premieres Madame George, a darkly comic tale about a failed psychic, and the lengths we will go to for what we choose to believe in; Eddy Brimson’s Naughty Boy examines nature, nurture and the dark undercurrents of human experience; award-winning writer and spoken word artist Cat Hepburn debuts the stage adaptation of her hit poetry book, #GIRLHOOD; Chris Ruffle’s Before the Wall explores the relationships and power struggles between China and the West; Fringe First-winnerApphia Campbell brings back her stunning bravura piece Woke and the Nina Simone-inspired Black is the Colour of My Voice due to popular demand; Captivate Theatrepremiere their musical extravaganza adaptations of Gregory’s Girl, Sister Act and Jekyll & Hyde; and Rob Rouse premieres Funny in Real Life, a domestic dramedy that sees a comedian’s world fall apart when his wife decides he can no longer mention her on stage.
These shows join the likes of Hal Cruttenden, Andy Smart, Tom Stade, Harriet Braine, Men with Coconuts, Juliette Burton, Gareth Mutch and Alfie Ordinary’s Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous, which are all already on sale.
Katy and Karen Koren, Directors of Gilded Balloon, said: “With two new venue hubs, we're incredibly excited about presenting our wonderful programme across the city. The Old Tolbooth Market offers a chance for us to reprise our hybrid PWYW model and we'll be bringing our new venue Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose on Chambers Street to life with a fun, eclectic and diverse programme!”
Tickets for all Gilded Balloon shows above are now on sale. Tel: 0131 622 6552 or gildedballoon.co.uk
All pictures by Steve Ullathorne
