I’m not at Edinburgh this year, but a friend asked for recommendations and I cobbled this list together. Old favourites abound – and pretty much all are on Joz Norris’ own, much more comprehensive list.

I’m not sure how I feel about that particular Fringe these days. But so many people I know and love are there, either performing or supporting their pals, or doing tech, or flyering, or crying in an empty room.

I know by this point in the month they’ll all be running mainly on fumes, to use a motoring metaphor (can you breathalyse a car?).

So I’m sure they’d support y’all going along and seeing their lovely hours of laughter and tears and pain and joy and oh gosh can we do all this again next year…

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13:55

Yuriko Kotani. Japanese stand-up with very funny and life affirming stories and unexpected swearing. Absolute legend, should be huge but enjoy her while she isn’t.

15:00

Copernicus Now. Life affirming and existence-challenging standup and character from Michael Brönstrum, a very charming and unassuming man who might be a genius.

15:15

The Mayor and his Daughter. Very weird double act, I’ve booked them for one of my autumn shows and god knows what a sober afternoon audience will make of them.

15:20

Joz Norris. Very funny stand-up / character comedian who veers from awkward to weird to very weird. Had his own show on radio 4 that absolutely didn’t do him justice: this is his domain and his latest show is shaping up very stupid indeed (WIP)

16:15

Lil Wenker. Yes that is her real name. American clown with a cowboy show which is both very silly and a sensitive exploration of the limitations of traditional masculinity.

16.55

Camilla Borges: lovely clown / character comedian / weirdo. Very charming, slightly odd. WIP.

18:40

Selena Mersey: show about Freud, bisexuality, and wanting to have sex with a piano. Selena is a local (Brighton) legend and please say hi from me if you see her 

19:10

Luke Rollason. Funniest clown in Britain, also now inexplicably a star on Disney+? Lovely man, I’d give his eyebrows 5 stars before he even speaks, such is his mastery of physical comedy.

21:30

Tarot. This sketch act are the reason I started doing sketch comedy nights in the first place (I saw them on a mixed bill with five stand ups; they were much funnier than anyone but because the rhythms of standup are so different people didn’t get it. They deserve their own tv show imo)

23:25

Joe Walters-Smith. One half of deranged kids tv presenters from your nightmares The Lovely Boys, unleashed late at night as a parody of a northern working men’s club host. Expect strangeness.

23:55 (only on the 25th)

ACMS (the alternative comedy memorial society). An absolute fringe institution, tho I should warn you it tends to go on til about 3am. Basically they know all the weirdest and funniest alternative comedians / clowns / psychotic puppet show acts, and here you get to see them fail, nobly. The true spirit of the fringe? Maybe.