Bigfoot, ‘slutfluencers’ and a David Bowie-powered gay fantasia: Edinburgh festival 2026’s must-see theatre

Plays about political extremes, religious sects, swimming the Channel and an 80th birthday party are among the highlights at this summer’s arts spectacularProducer Francesca Moody has shown a sure touch for spotting fringe hits (Fleabag and Baby Reinde…

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Bigfoot, ‘slutfluencers’ and a David Bowie-powered gay fantasia: Edinburgh festival 2026’s must-see theatre

Plays about political extremes, religious sects, swimming the Channel and an 80th birthday party are among the highlights at this summer’s arts spectacularProducer Francesca Moody has shown a sure touch for spotting fringe hits (Fleabag and Baby Reinde…

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Edinburgh festivals hope to launch joint box office for all 11 events

Bosses believe single booking process will drive up ticket sales for all festivals to offset funding squeezeThe Edinburgh festivals hope to launch a single box office for all the city’s 11 festivals to make it simpler to buy tickets and profit from the…

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Edinburgh festivals hope to launch joint box office for all 11 events

Bosses believe single booking process will drive up ticket sales for all festivals to offset funding squeezeThe Edinburgh festivals hope to launch a single box office for all the city’s 11 festivals to make it simpler to buy tickets and profit from the…

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SNL UK’s Larry Dean: ‘That heckle was so harsh it left my heart pounding!’

The Glaswegian standup on joining the ego-less Saturday Night Live, smiling at himself in the mirror and why he’s not slept in his new houseBehind the scenes, is SNL UK a tightly controlled machine or complete chaos?It’s genuinely a combination of both…

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A leak at No 11: Rachel Reeves and the satire about the urinal she couldn’t get rid of

When she broke through the glass ceiling and became chancellor, Reeves found her office had its own latrine. Rosie Holt reveals why she turned the story into a play called Churchill’s UrinalBritain is a conservative country, we are repeatedly told. So …

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Mark Simmons: ‘A lot of brilliant comedy shows tackle world issues – that’s not what this is!’

The comedian on learning from Stewart Lee, forging gags from chats with friends and his niche joke about Magic FMWho did you look up to when you were starting out as a comedian?I wanted to learn everything at once, so I found as many DVDs and videos of…

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‘I’d never told the same joke twice!’: the explosive rise of Ayoade Bamgboye, Edinburgh’s best new comedian

The Londoner from Lagos wowed the fringe with a show about language, family and cross-cultural identity. She talks about dread, dreams and her bid for ‘controlled chaos’Before her first Edinburgh fringe run last summer, Ayoade Bamgboye put a question t…

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‘I drove a tank and went to Bratislava with my hairdresser’: how Ian Smith turbocharged his ailing standup

The Yorkshire comic was going nowhere with his act which relied on gimmicks, set-pieces and standing on tables. So he decided it was time to live a more interesting – and stressful – lifeWhat’s the opposite of an overnight success? Should we call Ian S…

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Ania Magliano: ‘My favourite gig? I did some material about vibrators and a 92-year-old gave me tips on different settings’

The standup on Taskmaster, her time in the Cambridge Footlights and the geniuses behind Colin the CaterpillarWhat made you get into comedy?
In primary school I wasn’t very cool. I never got Hula Hoops in my packed lunches because my Polish mum would g…

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