From drag to historical immersion to coming out stories and drying out tales, there’s a rainbow-gamut of perspectives coming from some top quality LGBTQ+ voices this year to explore at the Fringe.
Alex Stringer has been picking up stand up accolades for years! Starting with 2020’s Beat The Frog World Series, by way of placing in the Comedy Bloomers LGBTQ+ 2022 final, and recently as topping the Chortle Hotshot Award 2025. So it’s a surprise that ‘Happy Hour’ is her debut show. Good things come to those who wait. Here Stringer reflects on her sober life of eight years, and how her built-in sobriety bonuses don’t seem to include wild swimming and zen attitude, but more comedy basements.
Jessica Durand’s fan-fiction love letter comic creation is an explosion of delightful enthusiasm and research into Downton Abbey and WWI. ‘Over The Top’ deep dives into a world of queer villainy and trench warfare, sidestepping into the absurd and self-invention.
Marking his remarkable 30 years in stand up, The Chase and Taskmaster favourite Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha returns with his show ‘2 Sinha Lifetime’ – the laconically sharp-witted natural next step from his autobiography: ‘One Sinha Lifetime’. Promising “absolutely no pathos” in the face of the two heart attacks Sinha had last time he was here in 2023, and his Parkinsons diagnosis in 2019, expect clever writing and lots of free-flowing laughter.
An explosion of musical multimedia pop fun from Parker Callaghan arrives in the form of his snazzy show ‘Soda Pop’. Leaning in from alt-comedy and running the gamut from vulgar to delightful, this nosedives into fun, just as you’d expect for from a comedy CV that includes collaborations with a RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and winning Character New Face at Montreal’s prestigious Just For Laughs Festival.
Check out Mrs C’s ‘Settle’ debut show for some high whoops and top-quality drag. The winner of Proud Scotland Awards’ Entertainer of the Year 2024 serves up sharp comedy with heartfelt storytelling about growing up queer in a small Scottish town – all with a new country-inspired musical flavour.
If I was being flippant I’d say as a launchpad into the lesbian dating pool nothing beats a dumpster fire of a sex bot-extorted ex-husband. Instead I’ll simply draw your attention to the debut stand up show of Britt Migs, ‘Dolphin Mode’, which may or may not (it does) have that very scenario as its starting point. Coming out stories and the Wild West of dating first men and then women are included too.
In a sea of personal storytelling at the Fringe, Dylan Adler stands out not only as a classically trained pianist with a spot of acrobatics in his show, but also as a Jewish Chinese identical gay twin. True story. Adler’s debut ‘Haus of Dy-Lan’ is packed with musical comedy, stand-up, and oodles of energy.
Charging over from Ireland, the award-winning ‘Shame Show’ mixes sketch comedy within a play, involving puppetry and noughties TV comfort shows, created by writer/performer duo Colm McCready and Fergus Wachala-Kelly. The story goes that a gay couple are marooned during a storm in their fixer-upper rural home with no power, caught in an argument about coming out, moving to the city, and shame-spiralling into tangential sketches about The Weakest Twink and dismantling heteronormativity. Expect confetti, challenges, and Joe McElderrry.
With over 2.5 million views online, David Ian’s crowd work has become a little bit legendary on the queer comedy scene. Cutting barbs are his bread and butter, but when a random guy asks him to be nicer he’s left with the title of his brand new show: ‘Am I Mean?’ Combining a bit of self-reflection, audience interaction and more than a smattering of profanity.
Painting a rarefied family portrait with story and song, non binary comic Alice Tovey tells the tale of her father’s release from prison shortly before her wedding. Mixing a career criminal baker with photo booth tomfoolery, this love letter forges the shape of what’s left behind when someone is behind bars, stirring up songs with stand up. ‘Glass Houses’ comes direct from runs at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival.
All shows, dates, times and prices can be found at https://www.edfringe.com
