The Crumb’s Ed Fringe Picks
Edinburgh Fringe
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Edinburgh Fringe -
Edinburgh Fringe is our favourite time of year and we’re so excited to be back for another one, it’s like an early Christmas for us. We thought we’d compile a little list of our top picks for this year's Fringe. With over 3,000 shows to pick from, it was tough but we got there in the end and came up with The Crumb’s Ten Do Not Miss These At All Costs Shows.
See ya up there!
Love, Theo & Nath x
These first five are from Theo:
Paul Currie, Teet
Every year my mantra is as follows: for curry, Mosque Kitchen; for comedy, Currie.
The first time I saw Currie was in 2018, performing their show Hot Donkey. It remains my all-time favourite experience as an audience member of a comedy show. I hadn’t seen anything like it and it blew my mind, it was like someone had curated a show with the entire aim of making me laugh. Clearly there’s tonnes of other people who feel the same way as Currie has become something of a fringe legend, selling out their shows and garnering well-deserved critical acclaim.
They’re bringing back Teet, a show that had a run out during the Covid-afflicted festival a few years ago. I saw it then and I am glad to report that it is absolutely brilliant.
Tickets here.
L’Addition, Bert & Nasi
Bert & Nasi are back! Bringing their new show L’Addition as part of the Here and Now showcase (formerly HORIZON) to Summerhall from the 13th to the 25th. This time the pair are directed by Forced Entertainment’s Tim Etchells in what must be one of the most exciting collaborations of the festival.
Bert & Nasi have made some of my favourite shows, able to create work that is by turns funny, poignant, political and even prophetic. The description of L’Addition, “Two performers armed with a single scene – a customer orders a drink from a waiter. And then things go awry. Played again and again”, brings to mind Forced Entertainment’s wonderfully anarchic show Real Magic, and if the duo's past work is anything to go by, this one will be magic too.
Tickets here.
1927, Please Right Back
1927 are bringing their new show to the Edinburgh International Festival from the 2nd to the 11th of August. I’ve seen three of their shows now and not once have they missed the mark. Their unique blend of performance and projection, integrating wonderful animations with melodramatic actors to tell what are often reimagined folk tales, is always a pleasure to indulge in. This time round the show’s inspiration comes directly from the writer-director’s childhood and it will not be one to miss.
Tickets here.
Trygve Wakenshaw, Silly Little Things
I first saw Trygve in a pop-up venue in Chichester, where he performed his show Nautilus - an absolute masterclass in physical comedy. He effortlessly conjured to life a dinosaur, a hunter, a sheep, objects, people, places, stuff; his physicality entirely unmatched, contorting all his limbs seemingly independently of each other; his face like plasticine, able to transform into any expression known to man.
He’s back at the fringe with Silly Little Things, which, I’m sure, will prove to be one of the festival's hottest tickets - snap them up early!
Tickets here.
Sh!t Theatre, Or What’s Left Of Us
Sh!t Theatre is one of my all-time fave theatre companies, their shows are joyous, so so funny, and always underpinned by incredibly thorough research making super incisive arguments about, for example, expats in Malta or Eva Peron. Their last show, Evita Too, was the first show I took my girlfriend to when we started dating and thanks to the bonding power of watching a Sh!t Theatre show, we are still together!
If you want to experience something like that, go and see Or What’s Left Of Us - there’ll be folk music and probably some drinking so what’s not to love?
Tickets here.
And these next five are from Nath!
Furiozo: Man Looking For Trouble
There’s always a show at every Edinburgh Fringe that you accidentally stumble upon, usually in a dark basement with about 20 people in tow in the early hours of the morning and you see it, slightly drunk. I don’t like to use the words ‘hidden gem’ much, but it’s probably to most apt way to describe this chaotic masterpiece by Piotr. After a wildly success 2023 Fringe, Furiozo is back better, angrier and more chaotic than ever.
Tickets here.
Derek Scott Mitchell
I first saw Derek do a very early twenty-minutes of Goblin at the ARCADE scratch night in Peckham and it was bonkers. Hilarious, disturbing and masterful array of weird and whacky characters. Once you see Derek, you’ll keep coming back for more and I cannot wait to see how the show has progressed since then. A master of chaos.
Tickets here.
Sam Dodgson
I’ve been trying to see as many WIPS and previews as possible this year. I’d not seen Sam perform before and thought I’d take a punt - this show blew me away. It’s heartfelt, it’s funny and gently pushes you to connect with memories both beautiful and painful.
Tickets here.
Every Brilliant Thing
Duncan Macmillan's Every Brilliant Thing was one of the first plays I saw during my time at University - helmed by the infinitely likeable Jonny Donnahoe. It’s playful, it’s sweet, it’s sad and it’s the first ticket I booked in for the Fringe. I cannot wait to revisit this after eight years.
Tickets here.
James Rowland Dies At The End of The Show
I’ve long been a fan of James Rowland, his affable and gentle storytelling is a staple of my Fringe. Never pretentious, always excellent and you consistently feel held as an audience. The final part of the critically acclaimed trilogy that began with Learning to Fly and followed by Piece of Work; this is storytelling at it’s simplest and finest. Snap those tickets up.
Tickets here.
