Otto & Astrid on the best and worst of the Edinburgh Fringe

As they return to the Edinburgh Fringe, Otto & Astrid Rot – ‘Berlin’s Prince and Princess of art rock and Europop’ – talks about what they can't get enough of at the festival; recall their most embarrassing Edinburgh experiences and complains about the worst thing about the Fringe (apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously).

Edinburgh Binge

ASTRID: I want to live at the late-night shows this year. First stop, Stamptown at Assembly George Square Gardens because their brand of chaos is my kind of catastrophe. Second stop, Massaoke at McEwan Hall for spandex, air guitar and screaming ABBA at strangers until my throat gives out. And The Kayehole with Reuben Kaye, because if you haven't been sweat-drenched and slightly scandalised by 1am at the Fringe, WHAT are you even doing?

But the WEIRDEST thing I'm doing this year is Summerhall’s new Sauna Theatre, the UK's first purpose-built sauna theatre. Yes. A sauna. With theatre in it. Otto thinks I'll be too rowdy for the Aufguss ritual sessions. Otto is probably right. But I'm going anyway. Might do a rave in there. Might just yell.

OTTO: I like to spend as much time as possible on The Meadows saying hello to all of the dogs. I have made friends with a Border Collie called Tam and last year I saw him seven times. This year I hope to see Tam eight times. I also enjoy going to Holy Cow on Elder Street for their vegan Scottish breakfast with veggie haggis, which is a delicious thing that shouldn't exist but does. Sometimes I sit there for two hours reading a book. This is my favourite kind of Fringe.

I also love catching kids' shows because kids laugh in a way that grown-ups have forgotten how to. Astrid says that's boring, but she also once laughed so hard at a puppet show she wet herself and had to leave.

Edinburgh Cringe

ASTRID: Okay this actually wasn’t my fault. A couple of years ago at the Assembly bar after our show, I may have (accidentally, on purpose) knocked a full pint of red wine directly down the front of a very famous rock star's white outfit. I won't say who. But it rhymes with feet. He looked at me. I looked at him. I said ‘sorry’ but in a way that sounded more like ‘you're welcome’. He wiped it off with his sleeve and kept walking. Honestly? Iconic behaviour from both of us.

Otto still cringes about it. But he cringes about EVERYTHING.

OTTO: Once, someone asked me to sign their chest. You know the part of the chest that usually has clothes on. I was very embarrassed. I signed my name very small and looked away the whole time. Years later, they came back to a show with my signature tattooed on them. They were very happy about it. I did not know what to say.

Edinburgh Whinge

ASTRID: Assembly Roxy Upstairs is an old church. It was not built with performers in mind. There is no toilet near the stage. Once you're in costume you cannot leave. I learned this the hard way in 2009. It involved a bottle. A stage manager found it. I have never recovered.

OTTO: My whinge is that Astrid disappears every night to the late-night shows. She does not come home the next day. Sometimes I cannot find her for hours. Sometimes she gets arrested. All I want to do is spend time with my sister. Instead, I wait in the university flat if she is there asleep or wait for her if she is gone.

• Otto & Astrid: The Stages Tour is on at  9:20pm at Assembly Roxy until August 30.

Published: 9 Aug 2026