It’s very nearly August, which means it’s time to scour the Edinbugh Festival Fringe programme for the best shows to see.
The physical programme has over 3,350 shows across 265 venues, meaning it can be a daunting task to work out what exactly you are going to see.
While it’s fun to take a punt and hope for the best, it’s sometimes nice to go for a known quantity - a performer who has delivered acclaimed shows in the past.
At The Scotsman we review hundreds of shows every year, with the best receiving a sought-after four or five star rating.
While previous success is no guarantee that they will deliver the goods again, it’s as good an indicator as any - particularly since many of the shows in Edinburgh have never been performed before.
So, here are all 31 returning comedians who earned a four or five review from us in 2024 - and what we said about their shows.
29. Tom Little Less Conversation, Tom Little More Action
What we said about last year's show: "Little has a characteristic comedy technique which he has made his own. He will accuse us, his audience, of making some sort of assumptions about him. He then goes about refuting those nonexistent assumptions using increasingly extreme examples." (Four Stars) | Contributed
30. Tom Stade: Naughty By Nature
What we said about last year's show: "This is a show about age, perspective and how there often seems to be a gap, in understanding, and in language, between people born and raised in different decades. It’s a minefield, but Tom’s going in." (Four Stars) | Contributed
31. Twonkey's Zip Wire to Zanzibar
What we said about last year's show: "Paul Vickers – aka Twonkey – turns shambles into an art form." (Four Stars) | Contributed