Edinburgh Fringe 2026: The Best New Comedy Acts to Watch

Our pick of the best young comics heading to Edinburgh this summer

Written by Ralph Jones

2 min readPublished on 05.08.2026 · 22:00 UTC

Eva Peroni

The winner of this year’s Brass Tacks Debut Fund unveils her debut show, Jungled, about moving from Livingston to Costa Rica and back again. Katie Palmer of Brass Tacks Comedy says the 21-year-old West Lothian is “one of the most exciting (and youngest!) comedians on the Scottish scene”.

Anna Thomas

This enchanting, offbeat Welsh comic won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2021 and was a Sean Lock Comedy Award finalist two years later. The title of her debut Fringe show, How to Juggle a Ferret, gives some indication of the strange paths she might lead us down.

Dee Allum

Allum’s second show, Raumdeuter, sees the trans comedian tackle some of life’s big questions with the characteristic flair that has made her one to watch. Here, she threatens to talk about football as well as “mortality, transformation and genitals”.

Rory Marshall

In its five-star review of Marshall’s barnstorming debut, Pathetic Little Characters, last year, Metro proclaimed, “We should all be keeping a very close eye on Rory Marshall – he’s about to blow up.” Now, the Devon-born comedian and actor is back, bringing more superbly observed character comedy to the Fringe with Thank You for the Opportunity.

Cabbage the Clown

And now for something completely different. Multimedia drag clown Cabbage brings their bonkers show Cinemadrome back to the Fringe for a 13-day run. Let’s be honest, you haven’t really done the Edinburgh Fringe if you’ve not seen a comedy show in which a drag artist dances around in a gown made from bin bags.