20 Hot Tickets for Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Photo from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website.
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic
Whether you’re planning to spend the whole of August in Edinburgh this summer, heading up for a week, a weekend or just a day trip, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe offers a ridiculous amount of choice when it comes to picking the shows you want to see. Last year’s festival had over 3,500 shows on offer, staged at around 300 venues across the historic city.
With so much to choose from, it can feel like an impossible task to make the right choices. If you’re heading up later in August, there will be reviews to give you an idea of what’s hot and what’s not. And once you’re actually in Edinburgh, you can get a feel for what’s going to be the next Fleabag or Baby Reindeer by chatting to venue staff and your new Fringe friends that you meet in queues and at the many pop up bars!
But, to give you a few shows to stick on the shortlist before you head for Auld Reekie, we’ve had a look through the shows that have been announced so far and picked out twenty that get the Theatre & Tonic seal of approval – a mixture of shows returning to Edinburgh and new work from acts we’ve loved in previous years. Read on and start planning that schedule!
So far only the bigger Fringe venues have got shows on sale – as we get closer to August there will be plenty more to choose from – including the brilliant Summerhall which always offers an exciting programme – so make sure you keep some space for adding more shows to the plan! For now, let’s focus on what’s been announced so far by the “big four” – Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly.
Assembly
Jordan Gray: Is that a C*ck in your Pocket or are you just here to kill me?
Gray’s 2022 show, “Is It a Bird?” was a huge hit, leading to TV appearances and a show at the London Palladium. This year the self-proclaimed “cockiest woman in comedy” is back with a new hour of musical comedy. Find out more here.
NewsRevue
A Fringe favourite, News Revue tackles the very latest topical issues through satire and song. With the world in meltdown thanks to the Donald and his Musky sidekick/boss/who knows what he is?!, it doesn’t look as if this is going to be a quiet summer for the talented team. More information here.
The Remarkable Ben Hart
This former Britain’s Got Talent finalist is a master showman, presenting his magic and illusions with charm and charisma that’s just as impressive as the trickery itself. There’s bound to be good-natured audience participation in this remarkable hour of entertainment. Get your tickets here.
Shamilton: The Improvised Hip-Hop Musical
Lin Manuel Miranda’s behemoth of musical theatre has inspired a fun Fringe show – taking suggestions from the audience, the cast will improvise a show based on the life of a randomly selected famous person, told (sort of) in hip-hop style! Great fun for fans of the founding father without a father or anybody who is up for a new and laugh-out-loud funny take on a famous name! Find out more here.
Swamplesque
One of the hottest tickets from 2024 is back again – everybody’s favourite green ogre meets cabaret in a hilarious burlesque parody show. If you’ve ever wanted to see a show that’s serving fabulous swamp realness, this is the one for you! Our review from last summer tells you more. Get your tickets here.
You can find out about all of the shows playing as part of the Assembly Festival here.
Gilded Balloon
Ironing Board Man
Returning from last year, this is a super hero story with a difference. The difference being that the cast consists of one man supported by a company of ironing boards. Surreal, chaotic and very funny. A classic hour of entertainment that is peak Fringe! Find out more here.
I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical
Another hit returning for 2025, updated with new songs. It’s a love letter to musical theatre that’s a must see for anyone stagey – offering a hilarious take on the characters you’ll meet on and off stage. Find out why we loved it in our review from the 2023 Fringe run. Get your tickets here.
Potty the Plant
Yet another hit show returns in 2025, this time it’s one that stars a singing, dancing, talking and tap dancing (!) potted plant in a dark, subversive comedy musical. If the posters all around town featuring the adorable Potty aren’t enough to make you want to buy a ticket, the glowing reviews from the last couple of years should help you decide! More information and tickets here.
Check out all of the shows at Gilded Balloon here.
Pleasance
A Jaffa Cake Musical
This new show from the brilliant Gigglemug debuted at the 2024 festival. It’s a hilarious tale of a VERY serious real-life court case – is it a cake or a biscuit? Catchy tunes and fantastic performances make this a real treat to get your teeth into. Read out 2025 review here. Book for this year’s Fringe run here.
Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs
I first discovered Alasdair at the Fringe when he was doing a free show in a yurt. Now he has progressed to selling out the King Dome at the Pleasance. His shows are always surreal, silly and very very funny. A great way to spend an hour. Find out more here.
Fast Fringe
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of shows on offer, check out the Fast Fringe – every day it gives you a different five minute taster from twelve comedy and variety shows to help you make up your mind. I’ve found some real gems this way. Book here.
There’s also a family friendly version at the Gilded Balloon to help you pick out your kids’ next obsession. Find out more about that one here.
Glenn Moore: Please Sir, Glenn I Have Some Moore?
Back with a new show for 2025, Glenn is one of the best live comedy acts I’ve seen. You can expect a brilliantly crafted hour of intelligent comedy. The blurb says it contains 300 jokes. That’s five per minute. I wouldn’t be surprised if some minutes included six. Get your tickets here.
Margolyes and Dickens: More Best Bits
Whether you think she’s a national treasure or a potty mouthed nuisance, everybody knows Miriam Margolyes. She’s back in Edinburgh this summer with her take on more of Charles Dickens’ best loved characters, delivered with her own unique style. She’s bound to sell out so book early. I have! Find out more and book here.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Another Fringe staple, the Showstoppers have been selling out at Edinburgh for the last eleven years. The best of the best when it comes to improv, at every show the audience gets to pick the location, the title and the musical styles they want to see, and then it’s up to the phenomenally talented cast to put it all together. From Hello Dolly to Hamilton, Gilbert and Sullivan to The Greatest Showman – absolutely anything goes! We saw Showstopper! in Leicester, read our review. Find out more about the Fringe run here.
Trainspotting Live!
Where better than the Edinburgh Fringe to immerse yourself in Irvine Welsh’s classic tale of drugs, debauchery and the “worst toilet in Scotland” … this is another mega hit that sells out every year. It has its own bespoke venue so you’ll really feel a part of the action. Choose life! And choose tickets here.
Find out what else is on at the Pleasance venues this summer here.
Underbelly
Batsu!
Late night mayhem comes courtesy of this cult favourite that sees comedians take on a range of challenges with increasingly creative punishments for failure! A great way to round off a day at the Fringe, we loved it last summer. Read our review here. Find out more and book here.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett
A top pick for cabaret fans, Bernie Dieter is an exceptional MC who curates a phenomenal line up of “punk, freaks and weirdos” who are all ridiculously talented and perform jaw-dropping cabaret and circus routines. This early evening show (starting at 7.20pm every night) will set the tone for your night at the Fringe in the best possible way. Read our review from her London run here. More information and tickets here.
Garry Starr: Classic Penguins
Returning from 2024, this is the latest show from an absolute comedy genius. Garry Starr is an Australian clown who will do anything – literally anything – for his art! In previous shows he has tackled every genre of theatre and the entirety of Greek history. This year, it’s literature in the spotlight. Join Garry as he goes through an entire library of Penguin classics (see what he did there?). It’s very funny, very silly and, oh yes, it gets very naked. But it’s also completely brilliant and one of the best things you’ll see this summer. Book here.
Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
This unique take on Midsummer Night’s Dream was my first encounter with Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare – five actors take on a classic Shakespeare play, four actors take it very seriously, one actor who has been in the pub all day is taking more and more booze as the show progresses! Any doubts I had that it was real were quickly dispelled as the drunk actor’s mortified parents were sitting in front of me! It’s chaotic fun in the best possible way. Here’s our review from last year’s London run. Find out more here.
You can find out more about all of the shows at Underbelly here.
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that this list of twenty hot tickets only includes nineteen shows. That’s because you should never go to the Fringe with a full calendar as you could miss out on an absolute gem. For your twentieth show, take a chance on a flyer, a chat in a queue or an intriguing review on Theatre & Tonic, and see something completely different!
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe will take place from 01 - 25 August 2025.
