Edinburgh Fringe comedian Zoe Wohlfeld shares her comedy favourites

I thought this was going to be a lot harder than it was, but it was actually pretty easy to choose these beauties. As I was compiling this list, I watched all of these videos fives times each. Then I made my boyfriend sit down and watch them so I could watch him watch them. I would love to sit down with you and watch you watch them too.

Shrek 2    

My favourite movie, without hesitation, is Shrek 2. Nothing has or ever will surpass its comedic genius. It’s just as much a movie (film) for adults as it is for kids. One of my favourite parts is Shrek 2’s spoof of the TV show Cops (aka Knights). From Donkey’s comment on police brutality, to the pepper grinder in lieu of pepper spray, Shrek 2’s layers of comedy never cease to amaze me (like an onion!).

If the reference to Cops is lost on the British, it is an American reality television show where actual cops arrest actual people. It ran 37 seasons. Theme song: Bad Boys by Inner Circle.

I Love Lucy (Vitameatavegamin)

This is a classic for a reason. It’s so simple and so stupid. If I had to choose one thing that inspires me it’s hands-down Lucille Ball’s stupid face. 

For my money, the best performances are the ones that make you want to get up on stage or smash your body through the TV and do what they’re doing, and that’s how I feel watching I Love Lucy. 

Gimme a darn spoonful of Vitameatavegamin!

...And in part two she gets drunk!

Pink Panther (Does Your Dog Bite?)  

I watched my mom reenact this bit from The Pink Panther about two dozen times before I ever watched one of the Pink Panther movies. Even today, if I’m talking about these movies with someone, this bit is used as a sort of shorthand, a way to connect over a shared love of something so simple and stupid (simple and stupid…a recurring theme!)

Rich Mans Frug 

Similarly to the way I Love Lucy makes me want to force my way into the TV and get drunk off nasty vitamin syrup, Bob Fosse makes me want to DANCE. 

As someone with a very stupid, bad-at-moving body, I absolutely love watching performers with smart, skilled bodies move their bodies in funny, absurd, yet highly choreographed ways. 

I also love when anything makes me laugh and fills me with awe like this does. It’s so beautiful while also being so silly! It makes me laugh, it inspires me, and it makes me very jealous I do not possess these talents. In another life, I’d like to be a Fosse dancer, please!

Monty Python Stoning

Sticking to the theme, I love how simple and stupid this is! The joke here is quite good but the thing I find funniest is the ensemble of stoners. In all these bits, it’s never the joke itself that is my favourite part, it’s always the brilliantly dumb way that it’s executed, the way the performers say their lines a little funny, the expressions on their faces – all the little things that make me laugh but I’m not totally sure why I’m laughing.

Big Apple Circus 

I have a very distinct memory of going to the Big Apple Circus when I was five years old. In this memory, there are two cats, in costume, being pulled in a cat-sized carriage by two pugs, also in costume. I remember it so vividly. It is one of my favourite memories. 

I am not completely convinced it is not a fictive memory and that it never actually happened. But we’re going to say it did, and it definitely makes this list.

While there is no video of this please enjoy this video of cats doing tricks on America’s Got Talent. (No matter how hard we try, we will never be funnier than animals)

I want to give an honourable mention to the community production of Shrek The Musical Jr. I saw in 2019 that had 100 (an underestimate) children in rat costumes in the aisles doing their choreo. I loved every bit of it. I loved the rat costumes. I loved that, in the case of an emergency, we would’ve all died due to the sheer number of children. And I especially loved how the kids showed on their faces how little they wanted to be doing the dance they were doing.

• Zoe Wohlfeld: Dog Funeral is on at Underbelly, Cowgate, at 5.15pm from August 5. 

Published: 3 Aug 2026