Forget Scandi noir and try some Scandi comedy instead - Karen Koren

Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley will be trying out his new Geordie accent

I’m going off for a wee break this week. It seems ages ago that I had a holiday. I don’t think any of us have really had a good break since the pandemic hit.

I’m going to Norway for a few weeks and have wifi all set up to work from there. Katy, my daughter has got everything covered at Gilded Balloon HQ and after a difficult time of recruiting we have eventually got our brilliant management team in place and I feel safe in the knowledge that the business is going forward towards a good strong Festival.

All tickets went on sale yesterday and we now have 183 shows during this year’s Fringe. New additions that have only just gone on sale is Mark Thompson’s Spectular Science show, it’s been described as brilliant and the perfect balance of education an entertainment, Mark is on mission, he wants to inspire and excite a new generation of scientists through, explosions, chemical reactions and even toilet roll.

Other shows are Britain’s Got Talent winner Lost Voice Guy, who pokes fun at his life as a disabled person in a post-apocalyptic world with his new Geordie accent. Fellow BGT winner Jon Courtenay’s Against the Odds combines comedy, music and drama in a brand new show about incredible success while secretly fighting for life, proving laughter can be the best medicine.

There are countless stand-up comics performing like American Sarah Sherman making her Edinburgh debut aka Sarah Squirm, featured player on Saturday Night Live. Another Fringe debut Paddy Raff: Raff out Loud went from open mic to arena sell-out in under two years. The Best of Scandinavia features the biggest names in Scandinavian stand-up. You don't want to miss the funniest comedians from Sweden, Denmark and Norway doing stand-up in English for the first time. Obviously the Norwegian ones are the best… not that I am biased.

I’m particularly excited about Mythos: Ragnarok. Theatre meets wrestling for the first time ever in this high-impact dark comedy! Viking Gods battle primordeal giants with rival clans on a three-sided stage with Nordic music and full-contact fights

There is something for everyone and I will have a few weeks in Norway to build myself up for the best Fringe we have had in many a year!