7 New York Born Shows You Can't Miss At The 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Performers from throughout the world are getting ready to pack up and ship off to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an annual, three-week performance festival that takes place in Edinburgh Scotland. It is one of the largest Fringe Festivals in the world.
Many well-known shows have gotten their start at the festival. One notable alumna is Phoebe Waller Bridge, who performed the one-woman show version of 'Fleabag' in 2013. The hit Broadway musical 'Six,' a show about the six wives of Henry VIII, also got its start at this multi-week summer event.
Here are seven New York born shows you should definitely check out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.
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1. 'Best Stand Ups Of Edinburgh'
New York City comedian Sean Conrad's comedic stylings will be showcased alongside the talents of other hilarious performers that have made their way to the festival.
The unmissable performances will be taking place at the iconic Voodoo Rooms — an award-winning bar and restaurant in the heart of the city. Spanning several nights, 'Best Stand Ups of Edinburgh' will be held at 1AM. It is a perfect show for laughter-inclined late nighters, pub crawling their way through the historic city.
'Best Stand Ups Of Edinburgh' will span the month of the festivals, with performances running from August 3rd to August 24th. As the site exclaims, tickets sell out fast. They can be found here!
2. 'How To Give Up On Your Dreams'
After a lifetime pursuing a career in dance, Meg Chizek is bringing her show 'How To Give Up On Your Dreams' to the fringe festival this year. The show gives a heartfelt, hilarious, and cuttingly honest look into show business's metaphorical man-behind-the-curtain. Whether or not audiences can relate to a career in the arts, everyone will see a bit of themselves in Chizek's dissection of her life choices and her bravery in working to define what she really wants out of life.
Bitten by the performance bug at a young age, Chizek loves to entertain. The talent told ENSTARZ "I'm excited to be part of this massive arts festival and share my passion with a larger audience."
The show will have a relatively short run at the festival, playing from August 19th to 24th at Greenside Venues.
3. 'DISCOunt: The Disco Variety Show'
For those looking to add some variety to their watch schedule at this year's festival, look no further than 'DISCOunt: The Disco Variety Show.' This critically acclaimed night of fun was created by New York City comedians Kendall Davis and Christopher Morucci. The two talents will be appearing in the show themselves alongside various performers from the festival.
Audiences can expect the entertainingly unexpected as the show features a limitless range of awe-inspiring acts. In previous renditions of the show, they have featured comedians, drag performers, and more. Davis herself described the show to Enstarz as, "a clown-filled and chaotic evening all about the 1970s."
This energizing show will be running from August 1st to August 11th at Just The Tonic at The Caves. Tickets to this show are on a pay-what-you can scale.
4. 'Molly Brenner: Inhibited'
Molly Brenner is another Edinburgh Fringe returnee, and her 2024 show 'Molly Brenner: Inhibited' promises to be a night of intimate hilarity.
Brenner told ENSTARZ her show is "about how I finally got something that I really, really wanted after years of obsession (hint: it was an orgasm). But we're never really satisfied, are we? It's a followup to my 2019 show 'I'm Coming' because several years later, I see myself and the Big O very, very differently. I wrote the show, and it's directed by the fantastic Elizabeth Bennett (not the 'Pride and Prejudice' character."
After receiving rave reviews in the United States, 'Molly Brenner: Inhibited' will be performed at The Stand Comedy Club from August 13th through August 25th. Tickets can be found here.
5. 'Proud Raccoon'
Comedian Chloe Radcliffe, a veteran of the Fringe Festival, just wants to perform an hour of "pure fun!"
'Proud Raccoon' is that hour. The show was born out of a realization Radcliffe had that she could feel her past, positive energy beginning to wane. In this show she makes a triumphant attempt, and succeeds in, making a prodigal return to her fun, upbeat, and optimistic presence, filled with silly jokes and feral humor.
"I have never found a major city with worse cell service than Edinburgh, Scotland," she told ENSTARZ. "The city looks like it's out of a fairy tale, and they really decided to embrace fairy tale realism with the attitude of, 'No one used cell phones in fairy tales, so you shan't be able to use one now.'"
'Proud Raccoon' will be performed at Pleasance Courtyard with show dates spanning from July 31st to August 13th. Tickets can be found here.
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6. 'An Asian Queer Story: Coming Out To Dead People'
Ricky Sim, who is preparing for the second Edinburgh Fringe Festival run of the show, is bringing the show back with even more accolades and rave reviews than it had a year ago.
He told ENSTARZ, "I can't wait to be back to Edinburgh again. I miss the creative energy during the Fringe and meeting artists and performers who are passionate about their projects. And I miss doing my show and connecting with audience members!"
The show will run from July 31st to August 12th at Roxy Downstairs. Tickets to this well-loved show can be found here.
7. '10 Pound Baby'
Comedian Leah Renee is getting ready to deliver "her massive comedy show '10 Pound Baby' " at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Through this show, Renee questions the price of believing in herself.
Renee described the show to ENSTARZ as "somewhat of a coming of age story as I grew up and out of Mormonism and American exceptionalism. As someone who takes things too seriously, I really enjoyed living in the UK where people 'couldn't be bothered.' Although I was a very devout Mormon, served a mission, married in the temple and kept all the rules, I had hidden resentfulness towards the patriarchy. It didn't fully surface until I began having children."
It is her goal that '10 Pound Baby' is able to skate the middle line between differing points of view: a mission that has become increasingly difficult in recent years. "As a recovering black and white thinker, I'm hoping my show communicates a "middle way" approach that often comes from walking a mile in someone else's shoes. My family of five (I have three children) lived nomadically over the UK and USA in 2022. I began to feel comfortable with uncertainty and shed my dogmatic ideas and be a better listener and observer."
The show will run from August 1st to August 25th. Tickets are being offered on a pay-what-you-can scale and can be found here.
