Comedians on the worst Edinbugrh Fringe shows they've ever senn

We've been asking comedians for their best Fringe shows ever… but what about some of the worst?

Aaron Wood

Honestly? Mine in 2021. I was doing a split show with a pal. We had 16 people in the crowd. I’d been on for ten minutes and had received nothing but silence. Just DEAFENING pin drop nothingness and it had been a great run up to that point. 

Confused, I thought I needed to change this up and started doing crowdwork as clearly my material wasn’t working. It was then I discovered that all 16 members of the audience were a Danish family who didn’t speak a word of English. 

‘But, Aaron how did they end up at your show?!’ I’ve absolutely no idea. They obviously realised right away but were too polite to leave. Had I powered on, I think they’d have sat and watched the whole thing. They were adorable, they apologised and put £50 in the bucket. I spent it on Duolingo. Kom naar mijn show kijken! [Come watch my show!] 

Aaron Wood: More To Life is on at 4.50pm at Hoots @ The Apex

Su Mi

I’ve been an avid goer of the Fringe for ten years and have seen some of the most heinous, deeply unsettling performances. 

I recall dipping into a show last minute and watching a naked lady hair hanging from great heights and menstruating into a (suspicious) looking birthday cake. The cake in question was not eaten, merely for show (I think).

 Another one I recall was having a very intimate moment in a one-woman show at the Three Sisters venue, with just me being the only audience member, while the performer, who was dressed like a crab (of course), fed me an ice cream cone whilst screaming into my face that I was a good little boy. Beautiful. 

Su Mi: This Motherphucker is on at Underbelly Cowgate at 6.40pm during the Edinbugrh Fringe

Shalaka Kurup

 I won’t name the show, mainly because this had nothing to do with the performer itself. The fault was all mine, as I sat in a hot room, excited to watch the show, only to realise at the 15-minute mark that my six days of eating two Extra Hot Pepparamis for lunch every day had been a terrible idea.

 I had to sit through 45 minutes of a show I do not remember at all, because my stomach was on fire. I was laughing at non-jokes and random sentences just so that I wouldn’t audibly wince. Never again. 

 Shalaka Kurup: Get A Grip is on at Pleasance Courtyard at 8.30pm

Josh Elton

This is cheating a bit, as I was booked for the show, and then seeing what it was I walked out… but what I saw was the worst and I do think it merits inclusion. The venue was outdoors, basically underneath a building on stilts, they had put maybe 20 chairs and a microphone. 

I had been booked to be part of a compilation of comedians. There was nobody there. Then another comedian arrived. The person who booked us arrived and went straight on stage and said: ‘Welcome to the show!’ and began the show to the two of us.

The other comedian said: ‘If it’s only us, I’m going to leave.’ I made my apologies and followed suit. As I left, walking in the rain I heard the act that booked us continuing the show. To nobody. 

Josh Elton: Away With The Fairies is on at Hoots @ The Apex at 8pm

Ted Milligan

I actually don’t mind saying that the worst show I ever saw was a production of Antigone that was funded bizarrely by the Italian ministry for culture. It involved this woman, who had learnt the English script phonetically, touching everyone in the audience’s faces over and over followed by her then shouting ‘hoo hoo’ and forcing audience members (myself included) to put on the smelliest mask in the history of the world. It got pulled halfway through the run. I went three times. 

But if you ask other Fringe-goers they’ll probably say my work-in-progress in 2023 where I was still drunk from the night before and tried to jump off a ledge onto a bench and failed smashing a projector. 

Ted Milligan: United is on at Pleasance Courtyard at 9.45pm

Published: 1 Aug 2025