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.
![Join dance floor anthropologist, Aunty Jonny for an edifying lecture on the history of radical music, sexed up dance floors and the people your mother warned you about. The only show with a built-in After Party. A History of Dancefloors and Joyful Regret. How a repressed Christian Youth Minister swapped out Jesus for Disco and found a new religion on the Dancefloor. Jonny Hawkins was once on the straight-and-narrow, but now they’re on the queer and wide. With a stash of five-star reviews tucked in its trousers Dancefloor Conversion Therapy will land in Edinburgh and take audiences on “a sexy romp” that is “unmissably, unmistakeably brilliant.” A show for clubbers, ravers, party people and all who’ve been born again on the dancefloor. Dancefloor Conversion Therapy at Assembly George Square Studios (Underground), August 3-24, at 11.15pm. Tickets from £15.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/16/44/Dancefloor%20Conversion%20Therapy.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
17. Dancefloor Conversion Therapy
Join dance floor anthropologist, Aunty Jonny for an edifying lecture on the history of radical music, sexed up dance floors and the people your mother warned you about. The only show with a built-in After Party. A History of Dancefloors and Joyful Regret. How a repressed Christian Youth Minister swapped out Jesus for Disco and found a new religion on the Dancefloor. Jonny Hawkins was once on the straight-and-narrow, but now they’re on the queer and wide. With a stash of five-star reviews tucked in its trousers Dancefloor Conversion Therapy will land in Edinburgh and take audiences on “a sexy romp” that is “unmissably, unmistakeably brilliant.” A show for clubbers, ravers, party people and all who’ve been born again on the dancefloor. Dancefloor Conversion Therapy at Assembly George Square Studios (Underground), August 3-24, at 11.15pm. Tickets from £15. | Michelle Mangan PRPhoto: Michelle Mangan PR
![Critically-acclaimed musical comedy duo Flo & Joan are making their highly anticipated return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 and presenting the brand-new show One-Man Musical, marking their debut musical. ‘One-Man Musical’ is their new, never-before witnessed one-man show about a renowned gentleman who you will know and recognise. Fans of maths and gender will notice some discrepancies here as the show featured a star cast of one (man) supported by a full band (two musical comedians hiding in the wings named Rosie and Nicola Dempsey, aka Flo & Joan), together they are set to give Fringe audiences a chance to see a maestro at work for the full festival run. Flo & Joan 'One Man Musical' at Pleasance Dome, Queen Dome, July 31 - August 25, at 7pm. Tickets: £9 and £16.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/16/09/Flo%20%26%20Joan%20%27One%20Man%20Musical%27.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
18. Flo & Joan 'One Man Musical'
Critically-acclaimed musical comedy duo Flo & Joan are making their highly anticipated return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 and presenting the brand-new show One-Man Musical, marking their debut musical. ‘One-Man Musical’ is their new, never-before witnessed one-man show about a renowned gentleman who you will know and recognise. Fans of maths and gender will notice some discrepancies here as the show featured a star cast of one (man) supported by a full band (two musical comedians hiding in the wings named Rosie and Nicola Dempsey, aka Flo & Joan), together they are set to give Fringe audiences a chance to see a maestro at work for the full festival run. Flo & Joan 'One Man Musical' at Pleasance Dome, Queen Dome, July 31 - August 25, at 7pm. Tickets: £9 and £16. | AvalonPhoto: Avalon
![Making her Fringe debut, the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Moosehead Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Alex Hines delivers her most
ambitious work yet. Stand-up, sketch, a psychic mind reading and a villainous umbilical cord, this show has it all. A seemingly innocent attempt at stand-up goes horribly awry when Alex Hines receives a call from her future self warning her to stop the show. Convinced her fart joke is going to kill, Hines perseveres, plunging the production into a surreal theatrical nightmare. Hines exploded onto the Australian comedy scene with her original brand of comedy - fast paced fanciful narratives, absurdist comedy and camp aesthetic. Opening for Hannah Gadsby and Aunty Donna, Hines has made a name for herself as a unique comedic voice incorporating sketch, stand-up, songs and characters into her eclectic body of work. Alex Hines Putting On A Show, at Assembly Roxy - Outside, July 31 - August 25, 9.45pm. Tickets: £7.50- £11.50.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/17/24/Alex%20Hines.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=730)
19. Alex Hines
Making her Fringe debut, the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Moosehead Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Alex Hines delivers her most ambitious work yet. Stand-up, sketch, a psychic mind reading and a villainous umbilical cord, this show has it all. A seemingly innocent attempt at stand-up goes horribly awry when Alex Hines receives a call from her future self warning her to stop the show. Convinced her fart joke is going to kill, Hines perseveres, plunging the production into a surreal theatrical nightmare. Hines exploded onto the Australian comedy scene with her original brand of comedy - fast paced fanciful narratives, absurdist comedy and camp aesthetic. Opening for Hannah Gadsby and Aunty Donna, Hines has made a name for herself as a unique comedic voice incorporating sketch, stand-up, songs and characters into her eclectic body of work. Alex Hines Putting On A Show, at Assembly Roxy - Outside, July 31 - August 25, 9.45pm. Tickets: £7.50- £11.50. | AssemblyPhoto: Assembly
![In their comedy debut, Charlotte Anne-Tilley (Almost Adult) and Mabel Thomas (Sugar) use their multi-rolling prowess to share the talents, dreams and despair of Bet On It theatre company as they strive to make it big at the Edinburgh Fringe. Packed with priceless acting tips, pin-sharp audience interaction, can these acutely observed, hilariously realised characters set aside their big egos and huge ambitions to get the show on the road? Expect emotional outbursts, bizarre show pitches and a whole lot of drama as BBC's 'This Country' meets your childhood youth theatre in this unmissable character-driven satire. Serious Theatre from Serious People, 1pm Gilded Balloon, July 31 - August 26 (no show 12th or 19th). Tickets: £9 and £11.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/06/17/17/40/Serious+Theatre+from+Serious+People.jpg?trim=57,0,786,0&crop=&width=800)
20. Serious Theatre from Serious People
In their comedy debut, Charlotte Anne-Tilley (Almost Adult) and Mabel Thomas (Sugar) use their multi-rolling prowess to share the talents, dreams and despair of Bet On It theatre company as they strive to make it big at the Edinburgh Fringe. Packed with priceless acting tips, pin-sharp audience interaction, can these acutely observed, hilariously realised characters set aside their big egos and huge ambitions to get the show on the road? Expect emotional outbursts, bizarre show pitches and a whole lot of drama as BBC's 'This Country' meets your childhood youth theatre in this unmissable character-driven satire. Serious Theatre from Serious People, 1pm Gilded Balloon, July 31 - August 26 (no show 12th or 19th). Tickets: £9 and £11. | Flick Morris PRPhoto: Flick Morris PR