With seven shows already up for grabs, the buzz is real, and now it’s time to roll out the red carpet for even more amazing artists at the Pleasance Theatre Trust. This summer, prepare yourself for a smorgasbord of comedy, theatre, cabaret, and family fun across 25 performance spaces at the Courtyard, the Dome, and the EICC. Often hailed as the festival’s beating heart (or perhaps its funny bone), Pleasance’s 41st festival promises not to disappoint—unless you’re expecting a quiet night in!
Comedy
Incredible comedians return to the Pleasance this summer. The Kiwi icon, Rhys Darby, is back after
13 years with The Legend Returns, a new stand-up show for 2025; in a world full of AI and Robot
tech can a simple dad with slightly too-tight jeans stay relevant? Now Is The Time Of Monsters is a
new show about discovery, wonder, extinction and how to walk through a landscape of monstrous
disaster from three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee, Josie Long.
After a UK tour, Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Taskmaster, Ghosts) brings his all-star improv show, Kool Story
Bro, back to where it all began for a strictly limited run – joined by a rotating cast of world-class
improvisers plus a special guest each show! Following three sell-out shows, Chloe Petts is delving
where she’s never delved before: Big Naturals is a show about sex but, the problem is that she
blushes every time she says that word.
As seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week and his 2025
NextUp standup special, Andy Parsons is back with Please #@!$ Off To Mars. Marjolein Robertson
brings us the final instalment of her trilogy combining folklore with stand-up to share her own
personal stories – she’s covered the mind and body and now it’s time for the soul.
Comedian’s Choice Award winner, cult clown, and Fringe IT Girl Elf Lyons brings back her critically
acclaimed Bird Trilogy for one final time. Comedic fireball Deirdre O’Kane is mad for road,
mercilessly mining hilarity from the human condition but will she tame the mayhem or ‘O’Kane it’ in
O’Kaning It.
Middle aged, newly single, Kathy Maniura has spent the salary of an NHS nurse in Decathlon and
he’s on the verge of a breakdown; The Cycling Man is a goofy drag king show from this acclaimed
character comedian. Hal Cruttenden is back with a brand-new show about middle aged dating,
social media, the insanity of modern politics and the fragility of marriage that promises to stick it to
‘The Man’, as long as ‘The Man’ doesn’t stick it back to him because he Can Dish It Out But Can’t
Take It.
The Pleasance will also continue their commitment to championing superb new acts in 2025 with
exciting newcomers. Worldwide sold-out sensations Simple Town now bring an hour of their best
sketches to the Edinburgh Fringe. Fresh from Madison Square Garden, Seaton Smith tackles
everything from social chaos to political absurdity, exploring life’s biggest (andpettiest) questions –
including the fine art of sleeping with people you hate in Trauma Bonding.
Award-winning stand-up Hasan Al-Habib was born to Iraqis that moved to Birmingham after
deciding Baghdad wasn’t dangerous enough; Death to West (Midlands) is his debut show exploring
racism, sectarianism and a high metabolism. Newcomers Ada & Bron invite you to third-wheel an
unmissable hour of weirdo soulmates in The Origin of Love with debauchery, live music and
cuckolding to the eleventh degree.
Improv legends Racing Minds return for their 12th year of unscripted escapades with Aaaand Now
For Something Completely Improvised; hilarious characters, whip-smart wit and breathtaking twists
will take hasty shape in this improvised comic adventure based entirely on audience suggestions!
Now in its 20th successful year, Best of Edinburgh Showcase Show is a great value lunchtime comedy
club, with a changing daily line-up, that showcases established favourites and rising comedy stars
from across the Fringe. Fast Fringe is an unmissable Fringe institution where 12 top comedy and
variety acts (changing daily line-up) perform ridiculously short sets in one furiously fast-paced
showcase, hosted by the best MCs around.
Theatre and Musicals
At Edinburgh Fringe, much loved and lauded companies return to the Fringe this year. Set to bluegrass music and murder ballads, Bury The Hatchet is an irreverently presented, knee-slapping ensemble show from award
winning Out of the Forest Theatre (The Brief Life and Unexpected Death of Boris III) that fuses
gallows humour and Vaudevillian horror, telling the story of Lizzie Borden.
Tabloid media, conspiracytheorists, and familiar fairy-tale faces combine in this wild, hilarious musical from the Lawrence Batley Theatre that will have you hooked from the first note – The Uncrackable Case.
Inspired by the 1991 tribunal which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake, multi-award
winning family-friendly musical makers Gigglemug Theatre present their latest sell-out smash hit
comedy, A Jaffa Cake Musical, that really takes the biscuit (or cake…?). Celebrating its 10 year
anniversary, the hit one-man show Cartoonopolis returns; this tour de force performance blends
storytelling, multi-rolling and a whole heap of imagination in a captivating true family story about
autism, overstretched services and a system not fit for purpose.
Plus there’s exciting international work and new musicals that will have you dancing in your seats.
Faced with a spinal cord injury, Falling: A Disabled Love Story follows Aaron’s journey to understand
this new body in the uncertain world of first loves, online dating, and sex; an uncomfortably sexy
and hilariously vulnerable stumble through Aaron’s misadventures searching for love, lust, and life
after disability.
Children’s Shows
The Pleasance Theatre Trust is committed to all round family entertainment. The Kidzone in the
Courtyard is packed with fun craft activities, toys, picnic tables and a buggy park. While a record
breaking scheme has seen thousands of tickets given-away to Edinburgh primary school children.
The family programme ensures there’s fun for all ages. Doktor Kaboom’s new show is fit to BURST
with astonishing live science experiments, stand-up comedy, and lessons in empowerment – in
Under Pressure he is back for a fourth year, using the physics of pressure to explore the stresses of
real life. A magical, musical science experiment that turns people into instruments; You’re an
Instrument is a funny interactive all-ages family show exploring the history of sound and music,
including the thoughts and feelings behind any toot, ding, dong or symphony.
With more shows to be announced over the coming months for Edinburgh Fringe there will be comedy, theatre, circus, magic, dance, kids’ shows and much more, alongside support for some of the most innovative
newcomers through artist development strand Pleasance Futures. There’s nowhere quite like the
Pleasance at Fringe!
Tickets for all shows are available at www.pleasance.co.uk and 0131 556 6550