It’s very nearly August, which means it’s time to scour the Edinbugh Festival Fringe programme for the best shows to see.
The physical programme has over 3,350 shows across 265 venues, meaning it can be a daunting task to work out what exactly you are going to see.
While it’s fun to take a punt and hope for the best, it’s sometimes nice to go for a known quantity - a performer who has delivered acclaimed shows in the past.
At The Scotsman we review hundreds of shows every year, with the best receiving a sought-after four or five star rating.
While previous success is no guarantee that they will deliver the goods again, it’s as good an indicator as any - particularly since many of the shows in Edinburgh have never been performed before.
So, here are all 31 returning comedians who earned a four or five review from us in 2024 - and what we said about their shows.
21. Pierre Novellie: You Sit There, I’ll Stand Here
What we said last year: "Novellie's hour comes at you like a leisurely flick through an entertaining but tightly edited Sunday supplement." (Four Stars) | Contributed
22. Rob Auton: CAN (An Hour-Long Story)
What we said about last year's show: "Auton is not afraid to tackle the big questions of life, and his love of words is palpable." (Four Stars) | Contributed
23. Seymour Mace Does Things With Stuff
What we said about last year's show: "Mace is one of the world’s greatest users of the swear word to comic effect. He’s also an artist, who creates signs, fake adverts, cartoons and puppets which all become an integral part of some very funny jokes." (Four Stars) | Contributed
24. Simon Munnery
What we said about last year's show: "Munnery scatters his hour with pin-sharp, leftfield observations, dives into his trademark little meta moments, offers a better than decent Michael Caine impression, gets physical with some experimentation into seeing sound, and musical (I use the word loosely) as he serenades us with a Dylanesque song." (Four Stars) | Contributed