Edinburgh Fringe: Edinburgh set for American invasion

I was almost killed by the leader of the Irish Westie gang but he took me to their bar, bought me drinks and gave me my first knife … when I was 11. It’s all in the show. I moved to Hollywood with no connections and $100. I had successes and failures. I worked with or became friends with Robin Williams, Sir Sean Connery, Stan Lee (who called me “My Protege!”) George Lucas, Michael Jackson and Sir Billy Connolly.

I’ll give the scoop on Hollywood, how I’m proud that my name is on the worst movie ever made, and how Scientology threatened me to remove it. Once I embraced being dyslexic, manic-depressive and having anxiety I used them, which has allowed me to live a happy life vs one of pain. Religion, marketing and progressive-wokeness are the biggest evils. I’ll tell you that no matter how bad it gets life is worth living as long as you can laugh.

JD Shapiro’s new stand-up show If It Ain’t Woke... Don’t Fix It: Stories from The Hood to Hollywood is at Just The Tonic @ The Caves – Attic at 5.20pm from August 2-27. For tickets visit edfringe.com

JD Shapiro (Image: free)

SOPHIE SANTOS

Comedic music in the style of Taylor Swift and T-Pain? Check.

A life coach on an internet site called With My Ex Again dot net? Check.

OCD becoming your road trip buddy after your girlfriend breaks up with you out of the blue?!?! Unfortunately, check.

Sophie Santos had everything: a life in Brooklyn, a book deal before the age of 30, and their soulmate of four years. When the pandemic forces Sophie and their girlfriend, Lily, to move next door to Lily’s parents’, Lily gets a job … in Pennsylvania. To make matters worse, Sophie’s personified OCD reappears, imploding the relationship. Sophie hires a life coach on WithMyExAgain dot net who explains the way to get back with an ex is to become the best version of yourself. Sophie and OCD travel together toward Sophie’s new life, butting heads and belting out tunes as Sophie learns to be alone.

Enjoy T-Pain autotune tracks like Space, Rebound, and a musical theatre ballad from OCD about trying to protect Sophie called I’m Just Me, OCD.

Sophie Santos Is Codependent! is her debut at the Underbelly – Jersey at August 2-28 (except 14th) at 7pm. For tickets visit edfringe.com

NICK PUPO

This is a show that asks the question: Can you still be the best man at your friend’s wedding if you were, without a doubt, the worst man in their life?

Addicted is about young friendship and a curious teenager’s conflicting impulses to either keep a promise with his best friend or try every drug he can get his hands on. Charlie was my first friend whom I met at five years old during a burping contest. Charlie loved to make promises, and I’d give him my word whenever he asked. But keeping that word? That was a whole other matter. Some of the promises were small and insignificant, others would make or break our bond, but during this period of my life, I couldn’t tell the difference. Throughout this hour-long story, I chronicle my life with tales of deceit, cowardice, shame, and, of course, heroin. I’ve woven in dozens of polished jokes and nuanced characters, as I try to reckon with my own addiction, the countless lies I’ve told to everyone I love, and the untimely death of a hamster named Jerry Maguire. You’ll love it, I promise.

Nick Pupo’s debut stand up show, Addicted, is at the Just the Tonic at the Bottle Room at 6pm from August 3-27 (not 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

MAGGIE CRANE

When I was a kid, every year for my birthday I begged my parents for a wheelchair. A big, gorgeous, purple sparky one like my brother Aidan’s.

I did not need a wheelchair the way my brother did, but this did not curb my feelings of extreme injustice that he got one and I didn’t.

My solo show Side by Side is about growing up with my older brother Aidan. Aidan was blind, developmentally disabled, and non-verbal, but this never stopped the wild jealousy, one-sided sibling rivalry, and unique bond between us.

Aidan loved music, singing, rainsticks, maracas, puffy paint, lemons, and soft animals and I loved pushing Aidan’s wheelchair and telling everyone his favorite colour was purple (a very bold assumption).

I want to tell this story, so families like mine can see their experience reflected and so others can stop and think about everyday ableism.

Often stories about disability are extremely precious or blatant one-note tragedies. I want to break out of this unfortunate pattern and paint my brother’s life as what it really was – a full one. I’ve been a professional stand-up comedian for 15 years. In that time, I’ve made a lot of comedian friends. Unfortunately, comedians tend to die early.

Maggie Crane’s debut stand up show Side By Side is at the Underbelly – Dexter, Bristo Square at 5.45pm August 3-28 (not 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

PATRICK SUSMILCH

Having a bunch of dead friends is a huge bummer. But they’ve left behind a lot of fun stories and online conversations which I’ve compiled into my show, Texts From My Dead Friends. It’s a fast-paced comedy about life, loss, and the enduring connection of friendship as told through screenshots of, well, texts from my dead friends.

In hindsight, the title might be too on the nose, but I’ve already printed the posters.

Searching for something that wasn’t traditional stand-up and lets my ADHD run wild led to a 430-slide presentation of photos, visual puns, memes, and the titular texts from dead friends.

My first performance was in Maria Bamford’s (Netflix, Comedy Central) living room and she called it a “work of art”. It feels weird to mention that, but hey, we gotta sell ourselves. I’m here to probe that even in loss there is room for joy and connection (and animated gifs).

Patrick Susmilch’s debut stand up show, Texts From My Dead Friends, is at the

Just The Tonic @ The Mash House – Cask Room at 3.20pm August 3-27 (except 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

GINNY HOGAN

Regression uses stand-up comedy to tell the story of my over-examined 20s. In my early 20s, I worked as a data scientist, and I became obsessed with using numbers to make every decision in my life. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to achieve by the time I was 30 – conventional success, in particular – and I thought crunching the numbers would help me get there.

Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. I became so obsessed with finding the right metrics to justify my decisions that I didn’t notice myself slipping into alcoholism. This is a hilarious drunken road-trip with detours into Silicon Valley, my childhood bedroom, AA meetings, LA juice bars, too many doctors’ offices, and just the right number of beds.

I try and fail to chart my way to conventional success, but I get something much better along the way.

Ginny Hogan’s debut stand-up show Regression is at the Gilded Balloon Teviot – The Lounge at 1.40pm August 2-27 (not 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

KATY BERRY

Diamond Goddess Crystal Pussy is an outrageous yet heartfelt cabaret experience. Most Fringe-goers know me from Baby Wants Candy. This year, I wanted to bust out with my first solo show. In DGCP, my character has just discovered why she was always the “weird” one growing up. It turns out her mom had a one-night stand with Poseidon, King of the Sea, and got knocked up with moi!

My character is pretty miffed about all the time she wasted trying to fit in, instead of embracing her magic. In the show, I am preparing a ritual to relinquish my human side forever, but before I do that, I offer the audience a three-step spell to unleash their own hidden power.

The show combines hilarious (and embarrassing) true stories from my own life, improvised songs inspired by chats with the audience, and lots of interactive, magical surprises. My favourite bit is right in the beginning – Guilty Pleasures. I’ve been doing it for years. The audience gets to write their guilty pleasures on pieces of paper and I pull them out one by one and freestyle rap about them. It’s loads of naughty fun!

Katy Berry’s debut show, Diamond Goddess Crystal Pussy, is at Just The Tonic @ The Mash House – Bottle Room at 2.10pm from August 2-27 (not 14th & 22nd). For tickets visit edfringe.com

Chloe Radcliffe (Image: free)

CHLOE RADCLIFFE

I am a serial monogamist who is very bad at one of those words. I’ve cheated in almost all of my relationships – I’ve done everything from kissed someone at a party to had a full-blown love affair. (FYI: Coming to the show doesn’t make someone a cheater. Actually, avoiding it seems way more suspicious.)

I think it’s healthier to talk about bad behaviour rather than just pretend it doesn’t exist (that’s how you know I’m not British). And every time I admit to cheating on stage, talk about why I developed that history, or tell a story of shagging the FedEx guy, someone comes up after and whispers: “That really spoke to me.” (Well, they don’t say that about the FedEx guy. That one’s unique to me.)

So this show isn’t just about my wandering eye – it’s about a restlessness that I know many audience members feel, too. It’s a gritty, electric, debut stand-up show where even if someone relates, they don’t have to admit anything, because I’ll admit enough for the lot of us. It’s no-holds-barred, full anti-hero status; hell, I’m travelling across an ocean just to guarantee I won’t have any exes in the crowd.

Chloe Radcliffe’s debut stand-up show, Cheat, is at the Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker III at 7.15pm from August 2-28 (not 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

SALMA HINDY AND DANIELLE DELUTY

This comedy show is about a Jew and a Muslim going from brainwashed to besties. We talk about our parallel upbringings and experiences with indoctrination via our respective religions and how that led us to each other.

We will detail how we went from being c***y insufferable virgin nerds who had no game growing up to current-day liberated sluts who find more spiritual truth on a mushroom trip in the park than in the synagogue/ mosque.

From radicalisation to both performing 9/11 jokes at the same show in Brooklyn, our paths were Clockwise from far left: Katy Berry; Salma Hindy and Danielle Deluty; Robin Tran; Lucas O’Neil; Tim Murray; and Chloe Ratcliffe meant to cross. And you get to witness it. Most importantly, we get to use our (previously covered up) bodies to express ourselves through dance. We get to do everything we were not allowed to do growing up in this coming-out show. We are no longer religious. We are healing. We are free.

Salma Hindy & Danielle Deluty’s debut comedy show Parallel is at Just The Tonic @ The Caves – Just Out Of The Box at 3:20pm from August 3-27 (not 14th & 21st). For tickets visit edfringe.com

Lucas O'Neill (Image: free)

LUCAS O’NEIL
When I was five or six, my teacher asked us all to make Mother’s Day cards, and for some reason, I decided to make a card for my dad. 
Not an additional card, like: “Hey man, you were involved, too.” 
He got the only one. I think that’s what happened with this show. I tried to write about my mom – how she shaped my sense of self and sense of humour – but ended up creating a show about my dad and the people and places in our lives that make us who we are, and who we become without them. 
Emotional Man is a sincerely funny, politely subversive stand-up show unpacking my anxious family, my role within it and how things changed after my mother’s passing. It’s comedy – served with just a hint of grief, and a healthy amount of existential dread.  And I think it’s turned out quite well. At the very least, far better than that card.
Lucas O’Neil’s debut stand up show, Emotional Man, is at the Just The Tonic @ The Caves – Just Up The Road at 5.20pm from August 3-27 (except 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com

TIM MURRAY
Something wicked this way comes … and I’ve got jokes and ugly shoes. Tim Murray’s Witches is a completely bonkers stand-up show with original music about, well … witches.
The show features songs and stand-up about the Wicked Witch of the West (I am painted in green makeup and dressed head to toe in drag), The Craft, Hocus Pocus, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and more. 
Witches examines why gay people are obsessed with witchy pop culture and how we step into our identities when we come out (come out wherever you are) and find our queer coven.
I have been travelling the US doing traditional stand-up for the last few years and was very inspired after seeing my friends Matt Rogers’s and Catherine Cohen’s musical comedy shows. I remember thinking: “I loved that so much and I sing … what is my version of this?” 
This show is the most fun I have ever had on stage. Audiences have been freaking out for it in the States and I know the UK will too. If not then burn the witch! But be careful … I’m an expert at roasting. 
Tim Murray debut comedy show, Witches!, is at the Underbelly – Dairy Room – Bristo Square at 9.20pm from August 2-28 (not 14th). For tickets visit edfringe.com 

ROBIN TRAN
My show Don’t Look at Me is a tragically funny life story as an Asian transgender lesbian comedian with Bipolar II.  If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, I am none of those things! How on earth can I relate to this?” Don’t you worry. 
I tell the story from an emotionally honest perspective by digging deep and looking inward and tapping into our basic universal emotions: anger, sadness, joy, darkness, hunger. (Does hunger count as a universal emotion?) There are fewer things more gratifying than hearing a straight white guy telling me: “Wow, I found your material really relatable somehow.” 
It’s very fun to leave people in amused confusion. The audience can expect to feel a rollercoaster of emotions while laughing the entire time. 
There are plenty of inappropriate jokes about drag queens, transgender people, the Vietnam War, and lesbian pornography. 
There are ups and downs, from rock bottom to triumph, told from the perspective of a clown who people treat like a professor.
You’ll gain an insight on my perspectives of race, gender, sexuality, family dynamics, and mental health. It’s about finding light in a dark world, which is really important, because everybody needs to lighten up.
Robin Tran’s debut stand up show, Don’t Look At Me, is at Assembly George Square: The Box at 6.25pm, August 2-27 (except 15th). For tickets visit edfringe.com