Dylan Adler brings his unique blend of musical comedy and personal storytelling to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August with Haus of Dy-lan, performing at the Pleasance Courtyard’s Beside space from 30 July to 24 August (not 11th) at 7.30pm.

Making his Edinburgh debut, Adler offers an hour of high-energy stand-up, original songs and unfiltered anecdotes drawn from his life as a gay, Japanese-Jewish performer growing up in San Francisco. His show is a whirlwind of piano, punchlines, and personal revelations – with the occasional bout of acrobatics thrown in for good measure.

Adler, a classically trained pianist turned “unhinged gay musical comic,” dives headfirst into his own life for comic material. Expect songs, sweat, and sincerity as he unpacks growing up as an identical gay twin, navigating racial identity (“double JAP,” as he puts it), and the very real chaos of therapy.

“Think theatre kid meets trauma dump – with jazz hands,” Adler jokes.

The show touches on everything from playground bullying (in two languages, no less) to his grandfather’s stint training as a kamikaze pilot during WWII – a figure he says he feels connected to “whenever I feel mentally ill or spiteful of the USA.”

Adler’s comedy doesn’t shy away from the dark stuff – he confronts past sexual trauma, failed relationships and the bizarre mundanity of adult life (“stealing your therapist’s toilet paper”) with disarming honesty and blistering wit. Whether riffing on heteronormative habits in a gay relationship or screaming at his therapist in song, Adler masterfully blends sharp punchlines with theatrical flair.

Already a familiar face stateside, Adler has written and performed for The Late Late Show with James Corden and appeared twice on After Midnight alongside comedy heavyweights Margaret Cho and Atsuko Okatsuka. He also starred in Chelsea Peretti’s First Time Female Director and lent his voice to a supervillain role on Disney’s Hamster and Gretel.

No stranger to the stage, Adler has opened for Atsuko Okatsuka on her US and European tours, including stops at London’s Eventim Apollo and Glasgow’s O2 Academy. His previous shows have earned critical acclaim – his 2022 collaboration Rape Victims Are Horny Too with Kelly Bachman was ranked #2 in Paste Magazine’s Best Comedy Albums of the Year, and last year’s Haus of Dy-lan wowed audiences at Netflix Is A Joke Festival.

Also a gifted composer, Adler co-wrote Good Morning New York, which played Off-Broadway, and received the Alan Menken Scholarship for emerging musical theatre talent.

With an hour packed with camp, catharsis and chaos, Haus of Dy-lan promises to be one of the more distinctive and daring debuts at this year’s Fringe.