EDINBURGH, July 30 — From new talent to returning legends and unusual offerings, this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival (August 4-28) has plenty to give audiences a good laugh. Here are a handful of 2017's anticipated acts.
New to the Fringe
Fresh from her Best Comedy win at the Brighton Fringe festival in June this year, Alice Marshall brings her sell-out absurdist show "Blood" to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time.
Also a first-timer at the Fringe, Harriet Braine, (2016 Funny Women Award, So You Think You're Funny? finalist and the Musical Comedy Awards Best Newcomer) will present her debut show "Total Eclipse of the Art."
Norwegian comic Viggo Venn (one half of the Zach and Viggo comedy duo) will perform his solo show at the Fringe for the first time with "The Life of Pepito."
Familiar faces
Dave Johns returns to the Fringe this year with his show "I, Fillum Star," which follows his transition and "rollercoaster ride of red carpet surrealism" from stand-up comedian to his Palme d'Or-worthy performance as the lead role in "I, Daniel Blake."
2015's Best Newcomer Sofie Hagen is also back for 2017 with a new offering, her third stand-up/storytelling show entitled "Dead Baby Frog," alongside Al Porter, a nominee for last year's Best Show award but far from a newbie — his show "Campus Maximum" has been described as "one of the liveliest acts in the British Isles right now."
A familiar face from TV comedy panels, Sara Pascoe will be happily airing her dirty laundry on the Fringe stage this year with her "LadsLadsLads" show about her recent breakup with fellow comedian John Robins, who'll also be performing "The Darkness of Robins" during the festival, on "love, loss, and [...] the injustice that you can't break up with yourself."
Causing a stir
While the Edinburgh Fringe is always a melting pot of stand-up styles and topics, there are a few that have piqued the critics' interest for their particularly unusual natures, such as John-Luke Roberts' fancy-dressed show "LOOK ON MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR!" Phil Dunning's absurdist "The House of Pigs" and Jerry Sadowitz's darkly funny and downright scary "Comedian, Magician, Psychopath!" — AFP-Relaxnews
