Olaf Falafel on the best and worst of the Edinburgh Fringe

Comedian Olaf Falafel is back at the Edinburgh Fringe with two shows: one in the kids’ section, one in the main comedy section. Here he shares what he can't get enough of at the festival, his most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously…

Fringe binge

Two years ago, I developed a bit of a banana habit. If you’ve ever written on the skin of a banana with a biro, you’ll know how oddly satisfying it is. I decided to give myself this wonderful feeling every day by writing all of the jokes from my show onto the exterior of a lovely, just-ripe-enough-to-eat banana. 

Then, at the end of my show, once I’d told all the jokes, I got to eat the banana as a little reward. This was a perfectly timed hit of potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B6 just when my body would need it most.

I really missed my banana incentive last year and whilst there is a certain pressure on performers in Edinburgh to come back with completely new material every year, I’m seriously contemplating bringing back the banana this summer. 

Fringe cringe

All of my comedy would be considered cringe if you were to ask my teenage daughters but one moment that particularly sticks out for me was during my kids’ comedy show a few years ago. 

A mum in the audience who had four kids with her decided to break open a load of snacks halfway through the performance. Being a parent myself, I’m usually quite forgiving of these kinds of interruptions but this was probably the noisiest and least tactful handing out of treats I’d ever encountered. Everyone around her was distracted so in an attempt to address the situation in a cheeky way I said: ‘If we’re handing out treats, you are legally obliged to offer the comedian something.’

 She duly obliged and handed me a Tunnock’s teacake. In what I thought would be a maverick, gunslinger-type move I proceeded to down the Scottish delicacy in one. What I didn’t realise though was that it was actually a coconut tea cake and a little bit of desiccated coconut got stuck in my windpipe causing me to cough and splutter for the next five minutes. 

My constant hacking, barking and sipping water to dislodge the rogue coconut was far more disruptive to the performance than the initial mid-show picnic had ever been. 

Fringe whinge 

My whinge would be about the comedy awards in Edinburgh. I get that they are definitely here to stay but why can’t the format be more like sports tournaments? Before the festival starts, there is a big ceremony where numbered balls that correspond to comedians are randomly drawn and put into groups of four or five. 

Acts are seeded to keep the big guns apart in the early stages – a purely hypothetical group could be: James Acaster, Jollyboat, Jessica Fostekew, Jarlath Regan and Dangerous T. Each act would then ‘play’ against all the other acts in their group – judges would go and see both shows and award a win to the show they collectively prefer (or a draw if the vote is tied.)  

The top two acts from each group go through to a knockout round before whittling it down to a final two where a winner would be crowned. Definitely something to think about. I'm sure you’ll all agree. 

• Olaf Falafel’s  Stupidest Super Stupid Show: New Improved Recipe, his kids’ show,  is on at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House at 11:30am throughout the festival, with  Olaf Falafel Asks: Orange You Glad? on at Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree at 2.30pm

Published: 26 Jul 2025