Huge Davies on the best and worst of Edinburgh

As he prepares to return to the Edinburgh Fringe, Huge Davies talks about what he can't get enough of at the festival; recalls his most embarrassing Edinburgh experience; and shares the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously.

Edinburgh Binge

The unique shows you are invited to guest on. 

For most of my performances during the year I’m either doing a well-trodden 20-minute set or a well-trodden hour tour show, so it’s a refreshing opportunity to try fun and interesting formats that otherwise would never exist. 

From doing completely improvised comedy routines on Set List, to racing a remote-control car that I designed against fellow comedians on Hot Rubber, to blowing off steam at Comedy DJ Battles, it’s just a fun way to navigate the metal-health onslaught that is your own show and hang out with other comedians. 

Audiences love them, too. It’s also a great way for the industry to discover new comedy formats, as is testament to Taskmaster and Cats Does Countdown, shows that were originally cult shows in Edinburgh before their big-money moves to Channel 4.

Edinburgh Cringe

The year is 2019. The venue is the Three Sisters. Every day I had ten minutes to get from my solo show to a ten-minute spot at a compilation show, where I would then exit-flyer the gig. 

My show had run over and had only five minutes to get there. The promoter was texting me, worried I wasn’t going to make the spot. I texted back saying I was round the corner and everything was OK. 

As soon as I sent that text, I full-on shit myself. Due to the sheer panic I felt I had no other option but to do the gig, barely registering any of the five scheduled comedians I ran past on the way to the show. Sam Russell, the comedian who’d just come off asked how my Fringe was going. I said ‘Not great Sam, I’ve just shit myself’. He said ‘Really?’ I said ‘Yes’. 

On stage, the MC saw I’d arrived and introduced me immediately. I decided to not address my issue to the audience. In a conversation I’d had a few days previously, someone had told me that they met the girl who’d famously fallen into a toilet at the Reading festival in 2008 at a party – and apparently she was still called ‘Poo Girl’ 13 years later, against her will. 

I did my set but did not exit-flyer. I have no idea why, but no one from the audience noticed. It’s honestly something I think about quite a lot. I left the gig immediately. I went home and changed. Living with six other comedians, I felt I did not want to dishonour the shared washing machine so I put the clothes in a Sainsbury’s plastic bag and deposited them in a bin in the Meadows at 2am.  

Edinburgh Whinge

The flyers that litter the entire city. 

I’m not blameless either. There are times during every Fringe that I’ve seen my own flyers scattered on the floor jamming a drain. 

The sheer amount of paper waste that permeates every corner of Edinburgh is unacceptable, particularly in a city that kindly hosts us year after year. Apart from the waste it creates, it honestly makes the city an unpleasant place to walk about and understandably makes locals resent the festival. 

I understand it’s part of the nature of the Fringe, if you’re not constantly on TV or have thousands of dedicated followers, you need to let people know you have a show and flyering is the best way. It’s pretty much inevitable. Perhaps large recycling bins on every street, which can be paid for with advertising space, along with more signage urging people to take care of their flyers until they are disposed of properly. 

Also the Mosque Kitchen debate. Many ugly opinions about which Mosque Kitchen is the original. There is only one Mosque Kitchen, as it’s in the mosque. 

• Huge Davies: Sleep Paralysis Princess will be on at 9:30pm at Monkey Barrel Cabaret Voltaire during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Published: 25 Jul 2026