New website serves up random videos from Fringe performers

A website has launched to serve up random comedy videos to help people discover their new favourite shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Visitors to FringeRat are shown a short video of a randomly selected act. They can either click ‘Get tickets’ to go to the Fringe website and see details of the act’s show, or click ‘Scamper on’ to see another performers/ .

Filters can be used to limit acts to certain comedy genres, or to past winners or nominees of industry awards. Acts can also be added to the user’s list of favourites, which can be exported to a spreadsheet.

The website’s developer Alexander Minto said: ‘FringeRat is inspired by my old method for finding new comedy acts at the Fringe: I would make a big list of people I hadn’t heard of, and watch five minutes of each on YouTube.

‘I found it brought them to life more than just seeing their picture and a description of their show, and I discovered a few of my favourite comedians that way. Hopefully the site can help other people do the same thing, but with less effort.’

Published: 22 May 2025