Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023: Gilded Balloon and Underbelly launch nights bring the best of the Fringe

The world’s largest arts festival gets underway in Edinburgh

This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe got off to a great start this week, with launch nights at two of the world’s largest arts festival’s venues showcasing the best the festival has to offer.

The Underbelly and Gilded Balloon each presented perfect encapsulations of what the Fringe is all about, with comedians, dancers, circus performers and theatre acts providing short preview performances from their Edinburgh shows they will be performing in the city this month.

The Underbelly launch on Wednesday night at the McEwan Hall in front of around 1000 people, hosted by comedian Sooz Kempner, showcased Fringe acts including Untapped Theatre Award winners Dugsi Dayz, family entertainer Mario The Maker Magician, visionary acrobatics from Circa’s Peepshow and US Drag Race winner Monét X Change.

Comedy dance act TUTU's dancing ducks at the Underbelly Fringe press launch night. Photo by IG Photography Ltd

First up was ‘Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder’ featuring eight singers and a piano player singing about the show. Host Sooz Kempner then had the audience in stitches with a tale about her first job as a Christina Aguilera tribute act in Ayia Napa, performing a “sexualised” version of ‘Silent Night’ as the US pop star.

Next up was hilarious English stand-up Emmanuel Sonubi, followed by theatre company Dugsi Dayz with a sketch about being stuck in detention. Mario The Maker Magician delivered an enthusiastic performance with a mischievous robot, delivering a positive message of “use what you have and have fun”.

French comedy dance act TUTU performed funny dance routines with a ‘Strictly’ performance and dancing ducks, before circus troupe Sophie’s Surprise 29th stole the show with an amazing dance routine on roller skates.

Next on stage was an incredible visionary acrobatics performance from Circa’s PeepshowCircus, followed by stand-up and opera from drag queen Monet X Change, and Canadian circus performers The 7 Fingers finished the show with an incredible dance fight routine with 10 performers chucking each other around the stage.

Circus troupe Sophie’s Surprise 29th performing at the Underbelly's Fringe launch show.

Underbelly’s co-directors Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam said: “What a wonderful night for our opening event! It’s brilliant to be back in Edinburgh for 2023 and we’re so excited to open the doors to another incredible Underbelly programme.”

And on Thursday night, the Gilded Balloon launch, hosted by Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan at Teviot Row House, saw short performances from a host of hot Fringe acts including a brilliant start from Edinburgh stand-up Jay Lafferty.

Next, was Michelle Brasier from Australia with a funny song about being scammed, followed by American drag queen singers The Kinsey Sicks who sang ‘Poof the Magic Drag Queen. Next on stage was the hilarious workout drag Queen Jesus L'Oreal who delivered a brilliant sermon of song lyrics with the catchprhase “oh my dad”.

LA-based Australian comedian Amos gill delivered a hilarious rant about the British empire, the Royal Family and break-ups, before string playing music comedy act Bowjangles took to the stage. Alaskan stand-up Chelsea Hart then spoke about the difficulty of using Tinder growing up in a small town of 7000 and her newly opened local Walmart getting a religious blessing.

The Slightly Annoying Elephant giving a fitness routine at the Gilded Balloon Fringe launch.

There was then a fitness routine from David Walliams’ children’s book character The Slightly Annoying Elephant, followed by comedian Kathy Maniura pretending to be a straw and then a fire alarm. Next was Katherine and Pierre dancing, followed by Cam Gavinski delivering an under pressure stand-up routine with a bomb stuck to his head, before comedy hypnotist Matt Hale rounded off another great showcase of what the Fringe is all about.