With this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe just two months away, we’ve taken a look at the household names heading to the world’s largest arts festival in August.
Among the big names coming to Edinburgh this year are some big Scottish stars, TV presenter and former 90s poster girl Gail Porter, Rab C Nesbitt and Only Child actor Gregor Fisher, former politician Mhairi Black, Travis frontman Fran Healy, and Fife stand-up Daniel Sloss.
From further afield, American actress, presenter and comedian Ruby Wax and hilarious ventriloquist Nina Conti will be here. As well as a host of comedy legends including Julian Clary, Jack Dee, Frank Skinner, Sara Pascoe and Phil Wang.
5. Gyles Brandreth: Up Memory Lane!
In this show the audience has to play ball – literally! Gyles and Harriet (Rosebud co-host and producer) will be throwing a ball into the audience: whoever catches it will have to share a family secret or pay a fun forfeit. This is a show that promises a lot of laughs, a few tears, and some songs. Cue the music! Gyles’s Rosebud podcast, launched in Sep tember 2023, drops every Tuesday and Friday. It became a No 1 podcast in 2025 and the show’s guests have included everyone from Dame Judi Dench to Sir Keir Starmer, Oscar winners, prime ministers, Olympians, Nobel laureates, icons, everyone from Dame Joanna Lumley and Bjorn from ABBA to Sir Gary Oldman and Monty Don. Gyles Brandreth: Up Memory Lane! at Assembly George Square, Gordon Aikman Theatre: August 5-30, 4pm. | Submitted
6. Julian Clary Fully Dilated
Comedy legend and national trinket Julian Clary is making a highly-anticipated return to this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe – his first performances at the festival in 17 years, having last brought a show to the Fringe in 2009 (Lord Of The Mince). The renowned homosexual is bringing his new hour ‘Fully Dilated’ for a limited run of ten shows only this August, at Assembly Rooms’ Music Hall, 5.30pm, August 14-23. | Jenni Carvell
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7. Mhairi Black
Former SNP MP Mhairi Black is bringing her Difficult Second Album stand-up show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 for a strictly limited, two-night run. Following two sold-out Fringe runs and a smash-hit tour, the MP-turned-comedian returns to Edinburgh with her Difficult Second Album for two nights only ahead of a major tour next year. Mhairi will reflect on her time in politics, life outside politics, neurodiversity and trying to get fit at the gym. Mhairi Black, Difficult Second Album, at Gilded Balloon Teviot, August 7 and 8, 8.30pm, tickets £17. | Steve Ullathorne
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8. Frank Skinner
When Frank Skinner puts together a new stand-up show, he does all his experimenting in half- hidden rooms above pubs. For the necessarily small audiences, it’s a bit like watching Doctor Frankenstein building his monster, trying 6 or 7 tracheas before he gets the one that fits perfectly, and doing his best to make sure the stitches are neat and equidistant. Now Skinner brings his stand-up laboratory to Edinburgh. You too can witness his successes and failures, in this work-in-progress show, as a new monster is put together. Frank Skinner: Work in Progress, at Studio One at Assembly George Square Studios, August 5-16, 6.10pm. | Getty Images