By Grace Hatchell, 2nd Act Couriers– — I’m writing this while sitting beside two suspiciously dramatic parcels and wondering whether Edinburgh Fringe insurance covers emotional whiplash.
Now then.
I’ll be honest — when two parcels arrived in me satchel marked “9/11 survivor” and “cult whistleblower”, I briefly considered whether Customs ought to be involved.
Not because owt illegal were happening, mind.
Just because this is Edinburgh Fringe, and even by August standards that’s an unusually dramatic morning delivery.
Turns out both parcels belonged to Sofia May — New York-born, Berlin-based comic, survivor, storyteller and, judging by the evidence before me, a woman with absolutely no interest in taking the gentle scenic route through comedy.
And honestly?
I’m fascinated.
Because Sofia May isn’t arriving at Edinburgh Fringe 2026 with one show.
She’s arriving with two.
Two sharply different but strangely connected stories, each built around surviving experiences most folk would struggle to discuss over a cup of tea, never mind transform into stand-up comedy.
And yet somehow, that appears to be exactly her talent.
Following an award-winning, rave-reviewed and sell-out Fringe debut in 2025, Sofia returns this August with 9/11 Birds and the Bees and The Buddha Wears Prada — two dark comedy hours stitched together by survival, uncomfortable truths and a refusal to let trauma have the final word.
Let’s start with the first parcel.
9/11 Birds and the Bees — Grief, Shock and Gallows Humour
Playing at The West Port Oracle (Flight Room) from 6–31 August (except Mondays) at 7.30pm, 9/11 Birds and the Bees marks the return of Sofia’s award-winning debut hour.
And this isn’t history at a polite distance.
This is personal.
Very personal.
Where were you on 9/11?
Sofia asks that question directly because, unlike many of us who remember classrooms, televisions or confused headlines, she was running for her life from dust and debris as the World Trade Center collapsed beside her downtown Manhattan school.
That experience sits at the heart of this hour.
But before anyone clutches their pearls and asks whether tragedy and comedy ought to share a stage together, Sofia’s already answered that question by selling out houses and winning awards.
The show returns after an extraordinary 2025 run that earned Best Performer at Fringe Europe, a British Comedy Guide Best Newcomer nomination, and strong praise from critics including The Guardian, Comedy Europe and The Nerd Party.
The award citation itself makes for impressive reading.
Judges praised Sofia for confronting grief and global trauma while turning them into something “daring, darkly funny and ultimately life-affirming,” highlighting her ability to expose vulnerability before snapping audiences back into laughter with remarkable comic timing. Perhaps most strikingly, the panel noted this was her very first hour, self-created and self-promoted without management or PR support.
That’s no small feat.
As one review put it, Sofia transforms a story that shouldn’t work as comedy on paper into something fearless and genuinely hilarious. Another called it “sharp, shocking and genuinely hilarious,” while The Guardian singled out her stage presence as carrying notable promise.
And if that sounds intense — well…
Aye.
It probably is.
But Sofia seems less interested in comfort than honesty.
Which brings me to parcel number two.
The Buddha Wears Prada — Cults, Chic Villains and Comedy with Teeth
Now then.
Most people leave difficult jobs with a farewell card and maybe a passive-aggressive office biscuit.
Sofia May left a Buddhist cult.
And not quietly either.
Her second Fringe show, The Buddha Wears Prada, plays at The Dragonfly from 6–31 August (except Mondays) at 3.15pm, following directly on the heels of her acclaimed debut.
This hour explores Sofia’s years spent inside the inner circle of a secluded Buddhist community deep in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, where she served as assistant to what the release describes as a “very chic, diabolical” female cult leader.
Seven years.
That’s not a passing curiosity or a brief spiritual wobble after too many self-help podcasts.
That’s a life.
And after breaking free, Sofia became the first survivor to publicly blow the whistle using her real name, speaking out through comedy, podcasts, exposés, radio and interviews, with more survivors now reportedly coming forward.
The show doesn’t tiptoe around that experience either.
Sofia openly describes herself as a “Buddhaphobe” and jokes that she intends to ruin the audience’s relationship with Buddhism too. It’s provocative, dark and deliberately unsettling — which, frankly, feels entirely consistent with somebody using stand-up to dismantle power structures she once lived inside.
And this isn’t a story existing quietly in the shadows.
Sofia’s whistleblowing work has already featured across multiple platforms, including Guru Mag, A Little Bit Culty and Mystic Pete Chronicles, with further appearances reportedly scheduled later in 2026.
Which leaves me with a curious thought.
Most performers spend years searching for material.
Sofia May appears to have survived enough for three lifetimes and somehow decided the most sensible response was to turn it into comedy.
That takes nerve.
Perhaps that’s why these two shows feel less like unrelated Fringe entries and more like companion pieces.
One examines surviving a world-shaking historical event.
The other explores escaping a closed world built on manipulation and belief.
Different stories.
Same instinct.
Survive first.
Speak later.
And make people laugh while doing it.
So if your Fringe tastes lean toward comedy that bites back, challenges expectations and refuses to stay safely in its lane, Sofia May may be worth placing firmly on your delivery list this August.
Because I’ll tell you this much —
I’ve carried plenty of Fringe post through Edinburgh over the years.
But not every satchel contains two bombshells at once.
Sofia May: 9/11 Birds and the Bees
The West Port Oracle (Flight Room)
6–31 August (except Mondays)
7.30pm
Search | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Sofia May: The Buddha Wears Prada
The Dragonfly
6–31 August (except Mondays) 3.15pm
The Buddha Wears Prada | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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