Edinburgh 2023
We’re delighted to be coming back to the Fringe this summer, for a run of 3:55pm shows at the Assembly Roxy. And to see some of our favourite acts are returning to the city too…
Behold, a time-ordered list of recommendations. NB Some of these shows are expressly pitched at children, while others are more of an everyone-above-this-age-is-welcome vibe. We have noted the age guidance by each.
Summerhall, Red Lecture Theatre | 10:15-11:15 | Aug 2-13, 15-20, 22-27 | £ (buy in advance) | 8+ | poetry/comedy
Folk and creatures. ‘Delightfully inventive’ (Observer).
Pleasance Courtyard, Above| 10:40-11:40 | Aug 2-15, 17-20 | £ | 4+ | magic, kids
Magical family extravaganza including games, tomfoolery and trickery all live on stage!
Assembly Roxy, Downstairs | 11:00-12:00 | Aug 3-27 | £ | 3+ | storytelling, kids
Join Aida H Dee The Storytime Drag Queen as you journey through a magical world of colourful characters…
Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, Maggie’s Chamber | 11:30-12:15 | Aug 3-8, 10-13, 15-20 | Pay What You Want (PWYW) on exit | 5+ | comedy, kids
High-energy interactive fun with dancing cats, silly songs and creatures from outer space.
Assembly George Square, The Box | 11:40-12:25 | Aug 3-8, 10-15, 17-20 | £ | 5+ | physical comedy, kids
Mr Sleepybum will re-enact some of his favourite dreams in this high-energy, inventive physical comedy show.
Olaf Falafel’s Super Stupid Show (20% More Stupider)
Pleasance Courtyard, Beside | 11:40-12:40 | Aug 2-15, 17-21, 24-27 | £ | 3+ | comedy, kids
There will be truth-telling cheese, fishing, ducks, bumbags, sausages and maybe some drawing.
Circus Sonas Family Show [w/ Martin Mor]
Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, The Live Room | 12:30-13:25 | Aug 3-20 | Pay What You Want (PWYW) on exit | 3+ | physical comedy, kids
Top-class circus entertainment, and the two best beards in the business.
Monkey Barrel, One | 12:30-13:30 | Aug 8 (Tues) | £ buy in advance or PWYW on exit | 5+ | comedy, kids
Surrealism, realism, clowning and fun for the whole family.
House of Oz, The Great Indoors | 13:00-13:50 | Aug 4-9, 11-16, 18-20 | £ | 4+ | comedy, kids
An insane mixtape of silly songs, stupid sketches and crazy clowning!
Robin Ince – Weapons of Empathy
Gilded Balloon @ The Museum, Auditorium | 13:00-14:00 | Aug 2-27 | £ | 12+ | comedy
Expect a chaos of words and ideas, love and delight. And also a very long reading list.
Pleasance Courtyard, The Green | 13:15-14:15 | Aug 2-15, 17-27 | £ | 3+ | sketch comedy, kids
Join best friends Rachel and Ruby for a kids’ comedy show that’s fun for all the family! Full of sketches, songs, pranks and silliness.
Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel
Underbelly Bristo Square, McEwan Hall | 13:30-14:30 | Aug 5-7, 9-13 | £ | 12+ | improvised comedy
The all-star cast improvise a hilarious new Jane Austen novel every show, inspired entirely by a title from the audience.
Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, The Live Room | 13:45-14:45 | Aug 3-16 | Pay What You Want (PWYW) on exit | 8+ | improvised comedy, kids
Two teams go for gold with quick-witted gags and games inspired by your suggestions.
Matty Grey: Game On: Boss Level
Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, Maggie’s Chamber | 14:00-14:50 | Aug 3-27 | Pay What You Want (PWYW) on exit | 5+ | comedy, kids
Pitches the best video game villains from the past, present and future against Matty and his audience.
Madame Chandelier’s Opera Party for Kids
Pleasance Courtyard, The Green | 14:30-15:30 | Aug 2-15 | £ | 8+ | musical comedy, kids
Experience opera’s greatest hits and learn about the characters, in this interactive introduction with Madame Chandelier.
The Stand, New Town Theatre, Studio | 14:55-15:55 | Aug 3-14, 16-21, 23-27 | £ | 12+ | cabaret
Ahoy! Sail away with cabaret legend and variety artiste Ada Campe for an adventure on the high seas.
Marcel Lucont: Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow For Awful Children
Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo | 14:55-15:55 | Aug 2-21 | £ | 6+ | comedy, kids
The wild interactive game show returns, where kids get to be pests, politicians and petomanes to be crowned the most awful child.
Monkey Barrel, Four | 15:35-16:35 | Aug 9-17 | £/PWYW | 12+ | comedy
His best bits – his most exhilarating, most exciting, and most wackadoo stuff.
Olaf Falafel: Look What Fell Out Of My Head
Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, Main Room | 15:45-16:40 | Aug 3-15, 17-27 | Pay What You Want (PWYW) on exit | 12+ | comedy
Join the best-joke-list-bothering, holey-cheese-flinging, diaphragm-jiggling comedian as he presents a hostess trolley full of stuff he finds funny.
Assembly Roxy, Upstairs | 15:55-16:55 | Aug 3-20, 25-27 | £10.50 (£9.50) | 6+ | comedy, kids
Since 2005, we’ve been persuading our favourite performers to entertain family audiences, and with different exciting line-ups every day there will always be something new to delight you.
The Mighty Kids Beatbox Comedy Show Strikes Back!
Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo | 16:25-17:25 | Aug 3-13, 15-27 | £ | 5+ | musical comedy, kids
Jarred and Hobbit are back with an all-new action-packed hoopla!
Matty Grey: 101 Ways to Annoy Your Parents… And Other Really Old People
Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, Maggie’s Chamber | 16:30-17:20 | PWYW | 5+ | comedy, kids
Winner of Best Kids Show at Adelaide Fringe 2023. The title says it all! (Evil laugh).
John Robertson: The Dark Room for Kids!
Gilded Balloon Teviot, Nightclub | 17:30-18:30 | Aug 2-14, 16-27 | £ | 11+ | comedy, kids
An interactive adventure featuring terrible prizes and total mayhem!
Benjamin Alborough: Absolute Monopoly
Assembly George Square Gardens, The Crate | 17:50-18:50 | Aug 2-14, 16-28 | £ | 12+ | comedy
Chaotic, interactive gameshow where audience members compete against each other and the host, with the audience physically becoming the game board.
Assembly George Square, Studio One | 19:00-20:30 | Aug 2-15, 17-22, 24-28 | £ | 12+ | comedy
Unique physical comedy mayhem.
Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo | 20:55-21:55 | Aug 22-27 | £ | 12+ | comedy
An absurd homage to migration, a hungry Eastern European clown voyages to America for a hot dog.
NB There’s lots of great circus & physical comedy too, that will appeal to all ages. On the Edfringe website, in the Advanced Search section you can narrow your choices by thinks like age suitability and genre. This is everything tagged as Circus, for ages 0+ and 3+: https://tickets.edfringe.com/
