Ten acts of that name heading to the festival

We continue our Edinburgh previews with ten Fringe comedians called Sam. Simple as…

Sam Eley 

Last year, Sam Eley won the Leicester Square Theatre’s Sketch Off competition with his character Basil Crumbwick, ‘a wonderfully horrible bloke’, performed from within a giant papier-mache head that would give Frank Sidebottom a run for his money. His show Soul Sewage is performed as that villain, and when Chortle correspondent Tim Harding saw an early iteration at the Leicester comedy festival in February he declared it ‘one of the most impressive sets I’ve seen in a long time’. 

Monkey Barrel, 23:25

Sam Serrano: Mars

One of the recipients of this year’s Chortle Hotshots bursaries, non-binary stand-up Sam Serrano has been a comedian since the age of 17. Their Fringe debut is described, jokingly, as ‘monetising’ a hate crime that they were subjected to six years ago, saying it’s about ‘how experiencing hatred can make you a significantly stronger person at the end’. But, Serrano adds: ‘There are also a lot of penis jokes, but I wanted to make myself sound like an artist.’ 

 Stand 4, 21:35

Sammy J: Hero Complex

The Australian comedian has been away from the Fringe for 12 years, but returns with this show which attracted a slew of good reviews during the comedy festival season down under earlier this year. It's a shaggy dog story full of incredible coincidences – but all apparently true – as he lays out how swapping comics with a school gardener set off a chain of events that led to the birth of his daughter, committing a crime and a federal policeman searching his attic…

Underbelly Bristo Square, 19:40, to 16 only

Samantha Day: I've Started So I'll Finish

Being head of tax at KPMG  in London hardly screams ‘comedy’. But that was Samantha Day's background before quitting her three-decade City career in 2019. Since then she's attracted some acclaim on the comedy circuit, including winning the Silver Stand Up Award at the Leicester Comedy Festival last year. This show – a celebration of a ‘no-regret philosophy’ – examines stubbornness and the refusal to admit when you are wrong. ‘What if you've chosen the wrong partner, or the wrong job?’ she asks. ‘Try not to think about it. Don’t regret something just because it is regrettable.’

PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth, 18:25

Sam Morrison: Duck

American comic Sam Morrison follows the success he had with his autobiographical show Sugar Daddy by turning his attention to evolution and the animal kingdom as a way to get him through an existential crisis. The hour is described as ‘nerdy, chaotic, and deeply tender at heart’. 

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17:30

Sam Nicoresti 

Last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner – and recently-crowned air guitar champion – is back for a short victory lap, performing her title-winning show Baby Doomer at the Pleasance Courtyard on August 15-19.

She’s also performing her previous show Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture at Shedinburgh on August 16, and a work-in-progress at Monkey Barrel from the 15^th to 18^th called And For My Next Trick.

Sam Rhodes: Toy Cocoon

Comedians strive to get the right quotes from the right sources for their Fringe blurbs. Sam Rhodes certainly has an odd one, with his recommendation from  Steve Whitmire - the guy who used to be the voice of Kermit the Frog. It may be apt given Rhodes’s Edinburgh show is about childish things… and how adults retreat into childhood comforts such as toys and collectables as protection or distraction from the travails of real life…

Hoots @ The Apex, 21:50

Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You 

One of very few comics to tackle big world issues, Sami Abu Wardeh previously drew on his background for the comic storytelling show Palestine: Peace De Resistance to offer his take on Middle Eastern politics, and how it impacts real people. This show is his first foray into straightforward stand-up, asking if everyone is allowed to hate, or if that’s just for the far-right?  

Pleasance Courtyard, 22:00

Sammy KO

Another half-Palestinian comedian, Sammy Obeid, aka Sammy KO, is also half-Lebanese and American. He majored in mathematics and turned down a job at Google to be a comedian. He was one of the hosts of 100 Humans on Netflix and got some attention early in is career for performing, in a nod to his Arabian heritage, on 1,001 consecutive comedy nights, taking him just over two years and nine months with no days off 

Assembly George Square, 17:35, August 19 only

Sam Hickman: First Woman

One reviewer described Welsh comedian Sam Hickman as ‘Tom Lehrer of the comedy harp’, as she serves up a cabaret-friendly mix of operatic and musical numbers with candid, crude stand-up.  Her Fringe debut explores themes of womanhood, childhood trauma, medical transition, and religious upbringing – all delivered in extravagant costumes.

 Just The Tonic at Westside Rodeo, 22:40, August 26 and 27 only

Published: 8 Jul 2026