29 acts on our packed London showcase of Edinburgh-bound act

Chortle can today announced the line-up for our Fast Fringe showcase, offering London-based comedy fans a  brilliant sampler of 29 comedy and variety acts heading to the Edinburgh festival this summer.

The bill includes names familiar from TV and radio including Ian Smith, Tiff Stevenson and Ria Lina – as well as an Olivier-winning improvised musical from Showstoppers

We’ll be showcasing stand-ups  Jamie D’Souza,  Olaf Falafel, Diona Doherty, Bebe Cave, Mary O'Connell, Barry Ferns, Lulu Popplewell, Marc Jennings, Narin Oz as well as our Hotshots Jessie Nixon and Shalaka Kurup.

There’s plenty of off-the-wall laughs too, with clown, character and sketch acts such as Ali Brice, The Mayor and His Daughter,   Cabbage The Clown, Susan Harrison, Ada & Bron

Music comes from London’s long-running satirical show Newsrevue, Katie Pritchard, Amelia Hamilton, A Jaffa Cake Musical, Bennet Kavanagh, Anna Hale, Thomas Currie and Holly Spillar – while ventriloquist Max Fulham adds another note of variety. 

And Fringe icon Arthur Smith, pictured, returns to oversee the hilarious, fast-paced shenanigans.

The show takes place at the Pleasance in Islington on July 3 and tickets are available here.

For those who can't make it to the show, it will be livestreamed to NextUp subscribers. To sign up – for £20 a month or £80 a year – click here.

We’ll also be back at the Pleasance Dome at 6.30pm every day during the Fringe, showcasing 12 different comedy and variety act every day, hosted by some of the best MCs in the business. Tickets are available here.

And for the first half of the festival we’ll be presenting a new family-friendly edition… with the same sort of mix of funny and entertaining acts as the usual show, but with no swearing or adult material. Suitable for ages 8+, we reckon. That’ll be on at the Gilded Balloon’s new Appleton Tower venue. Tickets are available here.

Published: 19 May 2025