Tim Harding reveals his comedy tips

In a special edition of his diary, reviewer Tim Harding gives a personal rundown of the best comedy he's most looking forward to seeing at the Edinburgh Fringe, which kicks off next week.

Well, I don’t know about you (how could I?) but I’ve been seeing so much comedy around London recently that I feel like I’m at the Fringe already. If only the weather were a strange combination of hot, sunny, overcast and rainy. Ah wait.

So that this intel-gathering doesn’t go to waste, I hope you’ll take seriously this list of the Most Anticipated Fringe Shows for 2025. I haven’t seen all of these hours in full, and some of these comedians I’ve never even laid eyes on, but my findings are backed and influenced by a shadowy international cartel of ageing oddballs who spend too much time in comedy clubs. 

Click here to see my predictions for last year, and judge for yourself if I’m to be trusted.

Ada and Bron: The Origin of Love

Despite seeing a decent preview from Will & Noah last week, this list is a little light on sketch and character comedy – some years it be like that. Ada and Bron, now Bafta-nominated for their TV short Peaked, are a promising prospect. A deeply silly and swooningly romantic pair of rockabilly soulmates, their doomed tragicomedy has been seriously impressing on mixed bill nights in London.

Recommended if you like: Wild at Heart; The Delightful Sausage

Ada and Bron: The Origin of Love is at Pleasance Courtyard: Attic at 11pm

Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs

One of the very last young comics to get TV work before an iron curtain fell around panel shows, and a beloved creator of sketch comedy for the socials, ABK is underrated, even so. 

He’s more than just an accessible TV raconteur, although he can do that stuff very well too – all of his past shows have been clever, fine-boned and highly creative. Recently he’s been off writing a series of children’s books, so this is his first new show since 2022’s Nevermore.

RIYL: Sandi Toksvig; Dave Gorman

Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs is at Pleasance Dome: King Dome at 8pm until August 11.

Anna Hale: Control Freak

I first saw Anna Hale when she blew the roof off the 2024 Musical Comedy Awards and have remained excited ever since for her debut show, which will feature plenty of socially anxious extroversion and original songs.

RIYL: Rachel Parris; Tim Minchin

Anna Hale: Control Freak is at Pleasance Courtyard: Cellar at 5.30pm

Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts

Challenging, slyly confrontational and difficult to get a bead on, Nigerian stand-up Ayoade Bamgboye wrongfoots the audience at every turn with comedy that slips fluidly between voices both figurative and literal. She was a regular at the Bill Murray’s late, lamented Paddock night, where she was one of my favourite discoveries.

RIYL: Paul Chowdhry; Bridget Christie

Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts is at Pleasance Courtyard: Bunker One at 4.45pm

Christopher MacArthur-Boyd: Howling at the Moon

Frankie Boyle’s heir-apparent in Scottish comedy, CMB has been building a dedicated following through consistently hitting shows that get better every year. He might be sweeter and gentler than Boyle was as a young man, but he’s just as funny, with a broad-base appeal that makes him one of the Fringe’s most reliable options for an enjoyable night out.

RIYL: Frankie Boyle; Kevin Bridges

Christopher MacArthur-Boyd: Howling at the Moon is at Monkey Barrel 1 at 9pm

Dan Rath: Tropical Depression

Rath is another performer who’s been building a following with nothing but the quality of his uniquely depressive material. This year he’s finally at the Monkey Barrel where he belongs, and will be performing the show which Chortle editor Steve Bennett gave the exceedingly rare five stars to at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Unbelievably hyped for Rathy this year, even more so than normal.

RIYL: Pierre Novellie; Sam Campbell if he was suicidal

Dan Rath: Tropical Depression is at Monkey Barrel Cabaret Voltaire 1 at 6.40pm

Johnny White Really-Really: am/pm

I bow to no one in my love of JWRR and I wouldn’t be being honest with myself if I didn’t say this was my single most anticipated show of the festival. Not to put any pressure on JWRR, whose balmy stand-up from the depths of the mirror dimension would shatter into refulgent crystals under the strain of too much press attention. This one’s for the real heads.

RIYL: A sorcerer; The Armando Iannucci Shows

Johnny White Really-Really: am/pm is at Monkey Barrel Hive 2 at 12.30pm

KC Shornima: Detachment Style

I know relatively little about KC Shornima, a visiting American comic who grew up in the midst of the Nepalese civil war, but have heard very good things from friends across the pond. Coming to Edinburgh with an Emmy nomination for her work on Saturday Night Live and support slots for Nate Bargatze and Shane Gillis, she’s my pick of this year’s US contingent.

RIYL: Tig Notaro; Jacqueline Novak

KC Shornima: Detachment Style is at Pleasance Courtyard: Bunker One at 6.10pm

Lachlan Werner: WonderTwunk

Werner’s debut Voices of Evil was a bizarre masterclass in ventriloquism and character comedy, where he presented himself as a conflicted twink under the thrall of a witch. Having come into his power at the end of that show, this new one heads far in the other direction, as Werner this time portrays Jack Hammer, old-school side-show attraction and ‘the strongest boy in the world.’

RIYL: Nina Conti; The Mighty Boosh

Lachlan Werner: WonderTwunk is at Pleasance Dome: 10 Dome at 9.50pm

Lou Wall:  Breaking the Fifth Wall

With Rath, Lou Wall is one of only two acts to make this list for a second year in a row. I have a problem with seeking out new comedic experiences relentlessly, but it’s impossible to get bored with Wall’s hyperpop blast of music, visuals, jokes and personal revelation. This is comic opera for the TikTok age.

RIYL: Bill Bailey; Reuben Kaye

Lou Wall: Breaking the Fifth Wall is at Monkey Barrel 2 at 10pm

Molly McGuinness: Slob

Slob is another show that I technically don’t know very much about, it’s just sometimes as a critic you learn to interpret certain portents. Word has reached me from the north that this debut, directed by Chris Cantrill, might be very very good. Tour support for Joe Lycett, Sophie Duker and Rachel Fairburn, McGuinness was also a BBC New Comedy Awards finalist and has been getting excellent notices from Manchester.

RIYL: Chris Cantrill; Joe Lycett

Molly McGuinness: Slob is at Monkey Barrel: Cabaret Voltaire 2 at 2.55pm

Rosa Garland: Primal Bog

Ever since having my world rocked by Rosa Garland at the South London bouffon night Gutter, I’ve been keenly anticipating her debut Primal Bog, which promises to be a truly bonkers piece of queer comedy burlesque filled with nudity and A LOT of slime. Shock factor aside, Garland is a very talented writer and clown, distinguishing her from the many bog-standard (or should that be non-bog-standard?) cabarets that proliferate through Edinburgh during August.

RIYL: barrels of slime; Princess Fiona from Shrek

Rosa Garland: Primal Bog is at Assembly Roxy: Downstairs at 9.50pm

Sam Nicoresti: Baby Doomer

The single best preview I’ve seen so far this year was Sam Nicoresti doing their new show Baby Doomer at the Pleasance Theatre in London. After years of toiling away as a cult favourite, they came out as trans in their ornate masterpiece Wokeflake a few years ago. This new show tackles similar topics of trying to find your way as a trans person, but from a starting point of accessible, extremely snappy, gag-based storytelling. If any justice remains in the world, this show will be huge.

RIYL: Suzy Eddie Izzard; Daniel Kitson

Sam Nicoresti: Baby Doomer is at Pleasance Courtyard: Bunker Two at 5.40pm

Sharon Wanjohi: In the House

A regular writer for Never Mind the Buzzcocks and finalist for both Funny Women and the Chortle Awards, Wanjohi arrives with one of the most widely anticipated stand-up debuts this year. With a mission to fix the world’s problems one at a time, this will hopefully be a peppy and uplifting hour.

RIYL: Amy Gledhill; Sophie Duker

Sharon Wanjohi: In the House is at Pleasance Courtyard: Bunker Two at 6.55pm

Thanyia Moore: August

Finally, another show that I’m sensing positive vibrations about from afar. Moore has always been a stellar compere and performer but, although she’s very well established by this point, she’s never performed at the Fringe. That’s partly because her planned debut was cancelled under dramatic medical circumstances – a story that will be revealed in this, her ACTUAL debut. Moore is one of the great modern all-rounders and always brings warmth to the stage – combine that with a gripping true story and you’ve got a hit on your hands.

RIYL: Desiree Burch; Zoe Lyons

Thanyia Moore: August is at Pleasance Courtyard: Upstairs at 5.40pm

Published: 25 Jul 2025