Edinburgh’s couple acts: the fringe duos starring together – and even getting married on stage

Love is in the air on the fringe as romantic partners put their private lives in the spotlight through daft sketches, acrobatics, folk songs – and a real weddingSome people blow their wedding budget in Las Vegas or on Venice’s Grand Canal. But the acto…

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David Elms Describes a Room review – a captivating exercise in collective imagining

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe sometime Mr Swallow sidekick’s hour of interiors improv is a skilful, unshowy treat‘Shall we give ourselves a night off from being funny?” There are unassuming performance styles, then there’s David Elms. At a festival…

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Creeps, legends, witches and wonders: Edinburgh fringe 2025 – in pictures

From a Polish prince of Denmark to pickled vegetables and tributes to Billy Connolly and Marilyn Monroe, our photographer explores the many worlds of the festival Continue reading…

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The Lost Boys get loose: Jack Holden on rebooting Peter Pan and The Line of Beauty

The actor and writer has turned JM Barrie’s story into the hedonistic nightclub musical Nvrlnd – but his talents are also showcased in a one-man thriller and a queer classicThe room is hot, sticky and covered in trampled confetti. A mashup of noughties…

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James Trickey: Don’t Count on Me review – accountant takes calculated risk in fringe debut

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe comedy newcomer delivers an expertly constructed set with chutzpah – but not all the jokes land with precisionThere’s a bait-and-switch to begin newcomer James Trickey’s show, which starts with our host in sunglasses r…

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Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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Nerds review – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go toe-to-toe in a rollicking rap battle

Cowbarn at Underbelly, Bristo Square, EdinburghThe two titans of tech are parodied in a thoroughly fun send-up of the competition between Apple and MicrosoftThis musical comedy about billionaire tech gurus Steve Jobs (Kane Oliver Parry) and Bill Gates …

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‘It’s a brigade of old gits!’ Miriam Margolyes, Andy Linden and the older performers storming Edinburgh

At a festival so often dominated by bold young talent, it’s veteran performers stealing the spotlight this year. We meet them – from household names to octogenarian newcomersMiriam Margolyes is ensconced in the garden room of a fancy Edinburgh hotel, f…

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Bad dates and bath bombs: 10 of the funniest jokes from the Edinburgh fringe 2025

The festival’s best joke award may have been binned this year, but the one-liners keep coming. Here are our favourites• 10 of the funniest jokes from the 2024 fringeOlaf Falafel: We named our children War and Peace – it’s a long story.Andrew Doherty: A…

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‘TikTok is like an old-school variety show’: what’s behind the surprising boom in ventriloquism?

The once musty old art of voice-throwing is back in vogue on stage and online. Its new hip practitioners – plus 1980s TV mainstay Roger De Courcey – explain why their vocal tricks and errant dummies are wowing audiences againIt is the greatest duet, pe…

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