By Grace Hatchell
The Leeds Tealights Are Bringing SPF5000 to Edinburgh Fringe 2026 — and Apparently Comedy Now Requires Speedos
Grace Hatchell has opened her satchel today and nearly dropped the lot straight into a paddling pool.
The Leeds Tealights are heading back to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 with SPF5000, an hour of raucous sketch comedy that sounds less like a show and more like a lifeguard station after someone’s accidentally replaced the whistle with a kazoo.
And yes, before you ask, they are calling themselves “hunky sketch comedy lifeguards.” I don’t write the post, I merely deliver the evidence.
Winners of Student Sketch Off 2026, The Leeds Tealights return with what promises to be a fast, daft, suncream-slathered hour of original sketch comedy. The show includes everything from Michael Jackson standing on Lego — a sentence I never expected to type before lunch — to Shrove Lad, the apparently lesser-known holiday figure who has been unfairly overlooked while Father Christmas hogs the festive rota.
Honestly, if Shrove Lad doesn’t arrive with a frying pan, emotional baggage and a questionable pancake flip, I shall be asking questions.
SPF5000 has been written and created by all six members of the troupe, drawing on material honed over the year during their annual tour. That means these sketches have not simply been flung together in a student kitchen at 2am beside a packet of own-brand noodles. No, no. These are well-tested, road-worn, comedy-ready sketches that have already been put through their paces in Leeds, Durham and Cambridge.
The Tealights describe the show as sharp, original and refined, which is exactly what I say about myself after a Greggs coffee and one successful use of self-service checkout.
Formed in 2005, The Leeds Tealights have been a regular presence at the Edinburgh Fringe and in the student sketch comedy world for over twenty years. Their alumni list is rather impressive too, with past members including Feel Good star Jack Barry, award-winning comedian Annie McGrath, BAFTA-nominated Em Humble and Olivier-nominated Hugh Coles.
So, basically, this is the sort of comedy troupe where you pop in for an hour of sketches and accidentally witness someone who, in five years’ time, will be all over your telly while you shout, “I saw them at the Fringe before they had proper lighting.”
This year’s group already comes with Fringe experience, National Youth Theatre connections, devised work for the New Diorama Theatre, and credits including Rat House and Lost Paws. Not bad for a bunch of people who also appear to be threatening us with sexy slow-motion running.
The Leeds Tealights were named one of The List’s “three to see” sketch shows at last year’s festival, and previous praise includes Chortle declaring “No weak link here,” while EdFringe Review called them “Sketch-show genius.” Palatinate also described them as “Brimming with energy from their first moment on stage,” which is always reassuring. Nobody wants a sketch group that enters like they’ve just been told the printer’s jammed.
This is student sketch comedy with polish, pace and proper Fringe buzz behind it. It sounds silly, bold, lively and gloriously unserious in all the right ways. In other words, exactly the kind of thing you want when Edinburgh has rained through your coat, your lunch was a £7 flapjack, and your next show is up three flights of stairs in a room hotter than Satan’s airing cupboard.
So slip on your Speedos, slap on your SPF, and prepare for SPF5000.
Grace’s satchel verdict? This one sounds like a proper beach rescue mission for anyone in danger of taking the Fringe too seriously.
The Leeds Tealights: SPF5000 plays The Cask Room, Just the Tonic @ The Mash House, Venue 288, from 5–30 August 2026, excluding 18 August. Performances are at 17:05 and run for 50 minutes. Tickets are £8, with concessions at £6.50. Box office: 0203 740 3700.
The Leeds Tealights | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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