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

We asked for comedians for their best and worst Fringe shows ever… here are some more of the latter!

Chloe Petts

I'm not the sort to take a punt on what could be a potential wreckage - I know some comedians like to go and stare at the scene of an epic car crash but my cringe threshold is too low to endure much. 

Having said that, I did perform at the Fringe during my uni days and part of that is going to see other uni's shows because a) you want them to come to see yours as an addition to your current audience of two and b) you want to sleep with someone that isn't in your friendship group. 

With this in mind, my friend and I went to see a new musical which will remain unnamed performed by a drama soc which will also remain unnamed. It was performed in a lecture theatre and was about nothing but also everything, I think? 

It was about intense romantic connections, social media, someone died of a drug overdose. It was like if Skins had no plot and loads of singing, but it wasn't so much sung as shouted. We hated and loved it so much we went to see it a further three times and didn't sleep with any of the cast members.

Chloe Petts: Big Naturals is on at the Pleasance Courtyard at 7pm during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Caroline McEvoy

The first time I attended Edinburgh Fringe as a punter, I was 23 and staying in a youth hostel. None of my friends wanted to come – their idea of a holiday was not a wet Scottish city – so I went solo, and found myself wandering the busy streets to find drinking buddies. 

I met an American guy staying at the same hostel as me who shared my enthusiasm for ‘pay-what-you-want’ comedy shows. However, somewhere between five and nine o’clock, the vibe changed. I realised I’d ended up on an accidental date. 

Clues included his insistence on buying all my drinks and his hand slowly snaking across the table between us, palm open expectantly. Worse still, that evening we found ourselves watching an American stand-up, whose name I no longer remember, but whose jokes were all themed: ‘Here’s why girls don’t like American guys.’

I wanted to whisper: ‘It’s not you, it’s me, and maybe a bit you, why do you have a moustache, it’s 2016?’ After the show, he approached the comedian to say ‘good set’ and (shudder) to suggest a punchline. I bolted for the doors, checked out of the hostel at 7am the next day and hid in a café until my train to the airport.

Adele Cliff 

 Me and my friend Kate went to see an adaptation of her favourite novel done by a student drama society. It had fairly complicated themes of addiction and had heroin use depicted at multiple points. The way they would act out shooting up was by lying down on stage in one of three empty paddling pools and popping a water balloon over their chests whilst writhing around and moaning. 

We were two of an audience of six in a 200-seat theatre space, and the only audience members who weren’t parents of one of the children on stage. Arguably, it was best that they had no first-hand drug knowledge to draw on but it was an uncomfortable and bizarre hour nonetheless.

Adele Cliff: Adele, Adele, Adele... Cliff It Isn't the Consequences of My Own Actions is on at Just The Tonic at the Mash House at 5.05pm 

Published: 8 Aug 2025