Fringe benefits: 10 of the best shows to catch at this year’s Edinburgh festival

Comedy

Rose Matafeo: On and On and On
When Rose Matafeo won the Edinburgh comedy award in 2018, she announced a break from live comedy. After some low-key experimental shows last year, she’s back with her first standup hour in six years. Catch the Starstruck creator exploring the relentlessness of life and the expectations put upon women at every stage of it.
Pleasance Courtyard: Forth, 9 to 25 August .

Emma Sidi Is Sue Gray
It doesn’t sound as if it should work, but it absolutely does – comedian and actor Emma Sidi will spend a whole hour in character as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray. She’s reimagined her as a brash hun, who tells it like it is, divulging secrets about politicians and Partygate to her lucky audience.
Pleasance Courtyard: Upstairs, to 25 August .

Zoë Coombs Marr: Every Single Thing in My Whole Entire Life
The Australian comedian has retired her brilliantly crafted character Dave, but fortunately she’s also a purveyor of smart, nuanced standup. To get her life in order, she’s logged every memory, joke, story and secret in one big spreadsheet and each night she’ll use it to guide us on a choose-your-own-adventure hour of comedy.
Monkey Barrel Comedy: Monkey Barrel 4 to 25 August .

Tarot
Surely the most exciting sketch group on the scene right now, Tarot began when Gein’s Family Giftshop and Goose joined forces to form a comedy supergroup. Decked in white cotton nightgowns, their sketches range from gross to sinister to silly, showcasing masterful twists and the sort of performance where a single look brings fresh waves of laughter.
Pleasance Courtyard: Pleasance Two, to 25 August .

Sophie Duker: But Daddy I Love Her
Taskmaster champion and former best newcomer nominee Sophie Duker is back with an hour of standup that explores love, Catholicism and daddy issues – from sugar daddies to biological daddies – and ultimately suggests that a bit of delusional thinking could help us navigate reality.
Pleasance Courtard: Cabaret Bar, to 25 August .

Metroland: The Box
Geordie sketch group Metroland make their fringe debut with a collection of playful, occasionally ominous scenes where we meet a man with a serious Greggs habit and a smell haunting a public toilet. The wholesome custard pie sketch, where they try to make each other corpse, is a highlight.
Pleasance Courtyard: Attic, to 26 August .

Chris Thorburn: Cineman
The Scottish comedy scene is absolutely thriving right now, and Chris Thorburn, part of Glasgow’s alternative comedy scene and a regular on BBC’s News Quiz and Breaking the News, is back with a new show that celebrates his love of film. Get a flavour from his viral parody of 00s teen movies, Watching a Film from 2004 .
The Stand: Stand 4, to 25 August .

Theatre

The Show for Young Men
It’s a fraught time for young men, with the rise of misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate, but that’s inspired director Eoin McKenzie to create an intimate, vulnerable physical theatre piece about friendship and communication between 10-year-old Alfie and 44-year-old Robbie, where the pair explore different ideas about masculinity.
Assembly @ Dance Base: Dance 1, to 26 August .

Ugly Sisters
After a critically acclaimed debut with 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals, a show woven from interviews with trans women, writer-performer duo Laurie Ward and Charli Cowgill are back at the fringe. This year, they’re winners of the Edinburgh Untapped award supporting new theatre-makers, and their new show promises a “hallucinatory” exploration of sisterhood via sleepovers, toilets and Germaine Greer.
Underbelly: Big Belly, Cowgate, to 25 August .

Main Character Energy
Temi Wilkey’s fringe debut Main Character Energy promises a mashup of theatre, cabaret and comedy about stepping into the spotlight after years of being the “sassy best friend”. Wilkey, founder of drag king night Pecs, won awards with her first play The High Table, so hype is high for her follow-up.
Roundabout @ Summerhall, to 26 August .