As summer gets into full swing, the festivities of Edinburgh Festival Fringe beckon. We’ve picked the performances that are worth a punt

Comedy

Baba

Romanian-Moroccan Muslim Jewish clown comic Halima Habil presents her debut show. Her shtick is quirky and extremely bizarre, but will have you giggling in its absurdity. Watch in wonder as she relays stories of Maghrebian deserts and the Iron Curtain. You may even get a glimpse of Baba’s famous bag (which is exactly as it sounds) direct from Deptford, London.

➤ Friday 7 – Friday 21 August. 8pm. Hoots @ Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX. PWYC (£3-£15 suggested).

Rachel Creeger: "Queen of the Jews!"

After the unceremonious axing last year of Rachel Creeger’s long-running Fringe favourite Ultimate Jewish Mother (which returns this summer), the London comic has of course written a show about it. "Queen of the Jews!" unpicks the controversy surrounding the events and questions whether ‘they’ are out to get her or if it’s just paranoia.

➤ Friday 7 – Monday 31 August. 2.30pm. Hoots @ The Apex, EH1 2HS. PWYC (£5-£12.50 suggested).

James Regal is a People Pleaser

In 2024, while James Regal was still working out his shtick, he won the Best Jewish Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe for an amusingly filthy one-liner about Jewish dating apps. Now, having refined his act, the Barcelona-based British comedian presents his debut hour about the chaos caused when you harbour a compulsion to avoid conflict at all costs.

➤ Friday 7 – Monday 31 August. 2.15pm. Hoots @ Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX. PWYC (£5-£12.50 suggested).

Debra Tammer: Extraordinary Alien

Leeds lass Debra Tammer proves that it is possible to have a breakdown across continents. Having moved to New York on her husband’s visa, she lost her right to remain overnight. Her only hope? To prove an ‘extraordinary ability’ that would allow her to stay. Listen as the Jewish actor and funny woman recounts a tale about identity crisis, psoriasis, antisemitism and a letter from choirmaster Gareth Malone.

➤ Monday 24 – Sunday 30 August. 2.30pm. Shanghai @ Le Monde, EH2 2PF. £12.50, £10.50 concs.

Mark Thomas: 40 in Stand-Up Years

Political satirist Mark Thomas manages to cram four decades into one hour as he celebrates a successful, chaotic and at times controversial career in comedy. Expect stories on how he influenced tax laws, helped put arms dealers behind bars, spent nine weeks walking the separation barrier in the West Bank and established the first comedy club in a refugee camp in Jenin, Palestine.

➤ Wednesday 5 – Sunday 30 August. 6.05pm. Stand 1 @ The Stand Comedy Club, EH1 3EB. £15, £13 concs.

Theatre

*Abigail Weinstock © Rebecca Need-Menear*

Giraffe

In this one-woman play, Abigail Weinstock is Eliana, a neurotic sociopath who’s trying to convince a court of law that she’s not a threat to society. Sure, she’s been slapped with a restraining order by her neighbour, but it was all a misunderstanding – a theme that’s plagued most of Eliana’s life. For some reason, she’s never been able to shake that feeling of being different, whether it’s in her Jewishness, queerness or dead parents.

➤ Wednesday 5 – Monday 31 August. 1.45pm. Cellar @ Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ. £13, £12 concs.

Is it too Late Now to Say Sorry?

What’s in an apology? Award-winning Jewish theatre director and producer Adam Lenson is on a mission to find out in his new one-man play. And he’s said sorry a lot: from shul to the school playground to social media spats and family feuds. Combining storytelling, music and memoir, Adam explores the pain people carry with them and the opportunities for healing that arise amidst all the damage.

➤ Thursday 6 – Monday 31 August. Red Lecture Theatre @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL. £18.50, £16 concs.

Max Olesker: Making the Cut

Comedian, journalist and formerly Britain’s youngest pro wrestler Max Olesker reveals how one night in Edinburgh kickstarted an unexpected existential crisis. After meeting the love of his life, Eliana, Olesker discovered that, despite already being Jewish, he would have to convert to Judaism if he wished to marry her. Adapted from his recently published memoir, Making the Cut: An Unorthodox Love Story.

➤ Wednesday 5 – Sunday 30 August. 6.50pm. 10 Dome @ Pleasance Dome, EH8 9AL. £15-£17, £14-£16 concs.

Our Other Organ

Appropriately located in Summerhall’s old Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Boaz Barkan artistically ‘dissects’ a real-life body onstage to find out where humans keep their racism – in particular antisemitism. Born in Israel and based in Denmark, the choreographer and somatic performance artist traces a history of oppression and collective trauma from the perspective of victims and perpetrators to find out how hatred is truly is embodied.

➤ Tuesday 18 – Monday 31 August. 4.15pm. Anatomy Lecture Theatre @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL. £17, £14.50 concs.

QFWFQ

Trans American artist Gregory Nussen shares a surreal hour about growing up Jewish and queer. Named for the narrator in multiple Italo Calvino stories, QFWFQ (or kif-wifk, as Nussen suggests) takes audiences on a journey exploring everything from architecture to Zionism to improvised jazz concertos. How do these topics relate? Even they don’t know, but it’ll be an entertaining time finding out.

➤ Thursday 6 – Monday 31 August. 11.40am. Former Gents Locker Room @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL. £15, £12.50 concs.

Wiesenthal

Discover the true story of Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal, who devoted his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, including the officer who arrested Anne Frank. Christopher C Gibbs leads the charge in this one-man play written by Tom Dugan and directed by Mark Liebert. Wiesenthal takes place in 2003 on the last day he spent in his Vienna office, two years before his death, when his life’s work was boxed up to send to the Museum of Tolerance in LA.

➤ Thursday 6 – Sunday 30 August (not inc Wed). 1.15pm. Dining Room @ Gilded Balloon Teviot, EH8 9AJ. £16.50, £15.50 concs.

Music

Couplet: Folk Marry Kill

Classically trained musicians Marina Schon and Micah O’Konis navigate the tumult of their 10-year relationship through amusing quips and lyrical hits. Touting a violin, guitar and knock-out harmonies, the Jewish LA couple sing stage-school-style songs about couples therapy, sleep hypnotists and ‘folking’ forever.

➤ Wednesday 5 – Sunday 30 August. 4.35pm. Studio Five @ Assembly George Square Studios, EH8 9LH. £15, £14 concs.

Daniel Cainer: What Am I, Chopped Liver?

No stranger to the Fringe – and Off-Broadway for that matter – London’s award-winning musical comedian returns with a new, family-friendly performance. Expect Daniel Cainer’s usual mix of madcap stories set to song, encompassing everything from current affairs to affairs of the heart.

➤ Wednesday 5 – Sunday 30 August. 11.50am. The Wee Coo @ Underbelly, George Square, EH8 9LH. £12.50, £11.50 concs.

Full of Hot Air

Accordionist David Vernon and clarinettist Dick Lee join forces for an evening of music fusing jazz, trad, Jewish, Balkan and more.

➤ Thursday 13, Monday 17, Thursday 20 & Wednesday 26 August. 3.30pm, 1pm (13 Aug only). Caffè Bar & Restaurant @ Valvona & Crolla, EH7 4AA. £16.

By Danielle Goldstein

Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs Monday 3 – Monday 31 August. edfringe.com