Comedian Alex Kitson on the best and the worst of the Edinburgh festival

As he returns to the Edinburgh Fringe, Alex Kitson, talks about what he can't get enough of at the festival; recalls his most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and complains about the worst thing about the Fringe (apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously).

Edinburgh binge

I am so pro anything that reminds us Edinburgh is an actual fringe festival. Not an industry trade fair/boot camp cosplaying as one.  So I love a stunt. The Gorilla In A Rocking Chair. The Cheeseman. Tim Vine's big ol' billboard. Sam Campbell (various). 

Give me an audacious publicity stunt. A one off show. Anything. The Fringe at its best isn't shows and performers with an audience elsewhere in mind. Something that literally couldn't happen anywhere else reminds us why we're all here. The lunatics who spend their time and money doing so are the real heroes of the Fringe, and I think we should encourage this at every opportunity. 

Edinburgh cringe

I have very few memories of mine and Ted Milligan's panel show Comedians Getting Drunk Playing Panel Shows because of the amount of alcohol I consumed that month. I know it was some of the most fun I've ever had on stage but most of what I do remember is broadly unpublishable. 

One I can tell you is that it was the only show Ed Davey watched at the 2023 Fringe. He'd got into Edinburgh late after a hard day's work campaigning, probably on a banana boat or something (#satire), and then quite obviously fell asleep halfway through and woke up at the end. 

Corralling the audience to play Countdown with a fast-asleep leader of one of the country's political parties is up there with one of the more surreal experiences of my life. He put £20 in our bucket, though which, to be fair to him, is probably the most centrist way to watch a fringe show.

Edinburgh whinge 

I have rewritten this answer 5,000 times to avoid annoying anyone. But if I'm whinging.... I think we should all think about what our participation looks like every year?? No offence! Not just think about what is good for us - but good for the Fringe ecosystem as a whole? Maybe?? Could certain types of shows/organisations/individuals financially contribute to help ensure shows that take more creative risks can continue to exist??? Perhaps?? I don't know what I'm talking about really. So... 

Waterslides down the Mile anyone? Make it illegal not to come to my show and give it six stars? Free Panquake if you bomb when the awards are in? Silent Disco Trail-Hunting Tours? We're having fun! It's all supposed to be fun. NO! YOUR TEETH ARE CLENCHED!! Did I mention we're having fun? 

God that was stressful. 

• Alex Kitson: Now Look Here is on at 20:45 at Hoots Potterrow from August 7.

Published: 5 Aug 2026