While the Fringe is awash with returning heroes every year, we’ve taken a look at the top up and coming comedy and theatre acts set to make their debuts in Edinburgh this August.
With the Edinburgh Festival Fringe still the biggest arts festival in the world, new comedians, writers and actors are all desperate to announce themselves to the entertainment world by appearing in the Scottish Capital in August.
Among the new acts making their Fringe debut this year are stand-up comedian, author and writer of smash-hit West-End comedy Death Drop, Holly Stars, who has finally made time in her schedule to swing by Edinburgh for August. Her debut hour at the world’s largest festival, Justice for Holly, is pure stand-up with a side of hairspray, lashes and leopard print.
Also popping their Fringe cherry are Australian comedy sketch show queen Yozi, German-based Libyan stand-up Mustafa Algiyadi and New York City-based comedian and actress Maeve Press- who starred in the critically acclaimed Everything’s Gonna Be Okay and the award winning film Theresa Is A Mother on Netflix.
Among the new acts making their Fringe debut this year are stand-up comedian, author and writer of smash-hit West-End comedy Death Drop, Holly Stars, who has finally made time in her schedule to swing by Edinburgh for August. Her debut hour at the world’s largest festival, Justice for Holly, is pure stand-up with a side of hairspray, lashes and leopard print.
![Having racked up over 18 millions views for her online sketches, stand up comedian and viral sensation Lou Taylor makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut with an hour of hilarious social commentary and nostalgia. Why live in the present when you could live in the past? Let Lou Taylor transport you back in time to her happy place: the 90s. Jeans and a Nice Top is a classic coming-of-age tale, but less Call Me By Your Name and more ‘text me on your Nokia'. Lou Taylor: Jeans and a Nice Top, 8:30pm at Pleasance Courtyard - Bunker Three, July 31 - August 25 (not 12th). Tickets: £7 - £12.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/17/06/Lou+Taylor%3A+Jeans+and+a+Nice+Top.jpg?trim=144,0,463,0&crop=&width=800)
9. Lou Taylor: Jeans and a Nice Top
Having racked up over 18 millions views for her online sketches, stand up comedian and viral sensation Lou Taylor makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut with an hour of hilarious social commentary and nostalgia. Why live in the present when you could live in the past? Let Lou Taylor transport you back in time to her happy place: the 90s. Jeans and a Nice Top is a classic coming-of-age tale, but less Call Me By Your Name and more ‘text me on your Nokia'. Lou Taylor: Jeans and a Nice Top, 8:30pm at Pleasance Courtyard - Bunker Three, July 31 - August 25 (not 12th). Tickets: £7 - £12. | Michael JulingsPhoto: Michael Julings
![Award-winning comic performer, writer and director Michael Kunze (member of the Comedy Lab at the prestigious Torino Film Festival), makes his eagerly anticipated Fringe solo debut as Hollywood film superstar Mitch Coony. Mitch Coony knows what people say about him - that he’s washed up, that he’s bitter and that he’s incredibly handsome and supremely talented - but does anyone know the man behind the myth? No. So, in one-man sketch show Infinity Mirror, (directed by Lee Griffiths), Mitch says it’s time to set the record straight, to shoot from the hip, to get real and tell all. Michael Kunze: Infinity Mirror, at Underbelly Cowgate - Delhi Belly, August 1-25 (not 12th), 12.55pm. Tickets from £7.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/16/46/Michael%20Kunze%3A%20Infinity%20Mirror.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
10. Michael Kunze: Infinity Mirror
Award-winning comic performer, writer and director Michael Kunze (member of the Comedy Lab at the prestigious Torino Film Festival), makes his eagerly anticipated Fringe solo debut as Hollywood film superstar Mitch Coony. Mitch Coony knows what people say about him - that he’s washed up, that he’s bitter and that he’s incredibly handsome and supremely talented - but does anyone know the man behind the myth? No. So, in one-man sketch show Infinity Mirror, (directed by Lee Griffiths), Mitch says it’s time to set the record straight, to shoot from the hip, to get real and tell all. Michael Kunze: Infinity Mirror, at Underbelly Cowgate - Delhi Belly, August 1-25 (not 12th), 12.55pm. Tickets from £7. | Textual HealingPhoto: Textual Healing
![Quadruple mega threat Holly Stars is finally heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With a three-book deal with Penguin under her lamé belt, thousands of tickets sold over three West End residencies and UK touring smash-hit Death Drop alongside web series Holly Stars: Inspirational, Holly is at the top of her game. Holly has been held at Superdrug with a bag full of shoplifted lipsticks; join her latest stand-up adventure to get the real story behind the charges. Think a bang-up-to-date Lily Savage with even more leopard print! Holly Stars at Assembly George Square Studios (Underground), 2-26 August, 6.30pm. Tickets £13.50.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/16/42/Holly%20Stars%20.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
11. Holly Stars
Quadruple mega threat Holly Stars is finally heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With a three-book deal with Penguin under her lamé belt, thousands of tickets sold over three West End residencies and UK touring smash-hit Death Drop alongside web series Holly Stars: Inspirational, Holly is at the top of her game. Holly has been held at Superdrug with a bag full of shoplifted lipsticks; join her latest stand-up adventure to get the real story behind the charges. Think a bang-up-to-date Lily Savage with even more leopard print! Holly Stars at Assembly George Square Studios (Underground), 2-26 August, 6.30pm. Tickets £13.50. | Storytelling PRPhoto: Storytelling PR
![An award-winning brilliantly funny sketch-comedy-clown whirlwind from larger than life comic personality Aussie Yozi. Draws on Yoz’s personal experiences as a non-binary, autistic artist making their way through life, social rules and clown school. Super silly, high energy and an awful lot of fun, No Babies in the Sauna proves that for some people, it’s handy to have those unspoken social rules written down. Yozi, at Assembly George Square Studios (Studio 4), August 1-25, 8pm. Tickets: £7.50 - £12.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/16/42/Yozi%3A%20No%20Babies%20in%20the%20Sauna.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
12. Yozi: No Babies in the Sauna
An award-winning brilliantly funny sketch-comedy-clown whirlwind from larger than life comic personality Aussie Yozi. Draws on Yoz’s personal experiences as a non-binary, autistic artist making their way through life, social rules and clown school. Super silly, high energy and an awful lot of fun, No Babies in the Sauna proves that for some people, it’s handy to have those unspoken social rules written down. Yozi, at Assembly George Square Studios (Studio 4), August 1-25, 8pm. Tickets: £7.50 - £12. | Shaylee LeachPhoto: Shaylee Leach