British Comedy Guide

2018 Edinburgh Fringe

Best-reviewed Edinburgh Fringe shows 2018

Alex Edelman

There were more than 1,800 different comedy shows to pick from at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018. But which of these, according to critics, were the best?

As part of our annual coverage of the festival, we log every review for every comedy performance. This year we collected up more than 4,700 reviews from 135 different publications.

Here are the shows from the comedy section of the programme that were reviewed at least 8 times and managed to average over 4 stars across those reviews. Alex Edelman is top of the list, with a very impressive tally of 14 five star reviews amongst his press list.

Click on any name to see the full list of reviews.


Alex Edelman: Just for Us. Alex Edelman

Alex Edelman

Rob Auton: The Talk Show. Rob Auton

Rob Auton

Vulvarine: A New Musical

Vulvarine

Natalie Palamides: Nate. Natalie Palamides

Natalie Palamides

Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Victim, Complex. Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Beetlemania: Kafka for Kids!

Kafka for Kids!

Steen Raskopoulos: Stay. Steen Raskopoulos

Steen Raskopoulos

Mark Watson: The Infinite Show. Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Joe Sutherland: Toxic. Joe Sutherland

Joe Sutherland

Ahir Shah: Duffer. Ahir Shah

Ahir Shah

Fringe Wives Club: Glittery Clittery

Fringe Wives Club

Flo & Joan: Alive on Stage. Image shows from L to R: Nicola Dempsey, Rosie Dempsey

Flo & Joan

Jessie Cave: Sunrise. Jessie Cave

Jessie Cave

John-Luke Roberts: All I Wanna Do Is [FX: GUNSHOTS] With a [FX: GUN RELOADING] and a [FX: CASH REGISTER] and Perform Some Comedy!. John-Luke Roberts

John-Luke Roberts

Zoe Lyons: Entry Level Human. Zoe Lyons

Zoe Lyons

Mat Ewins: What Sorry? My Mistake! The Doors Are Not Open; The Show Has Been Cancelled. Do Not Have Your Tickets Ready!. Mat Ewins

Mat Ewins

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Home Sweet Home. Christopher MacArthur-Boyd

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd

Suzi Ruffell: Nocturnal. Suzi Ruffell

Suzi Ruffell

Rosie Jones: Fifteen Minutes. Rosie Jones

Rosie Jones

Nina Conti Is Monkey. Nina Conti

Nina Conti

Zoo. Lily Bevan

Zoo

Lucy Pearman: Fruit Loop. Lucy Pearman

Lucy Pearman

Moon

Moon

Kieran Hodgson: '75. Kieran Hodgson

Kieran Hodgson

Jordan Brookes: Bleed. Jordan Brookes

Jordan Brookes

Ciarán Dowd: Don Rodolfo. Ciarán Dowd

Ciarán Dowd

Rhys Nicholson - Seminal. Rhys Nicholson

Rhys Nicholson

Lazy Susan: Forgive Me, Mother!. Image shows from L to R: Freya Parker, Celeste Dring

Lazy Susan

Harriet Kemsley: Slutty Joan. Harriet Kemsley

Harriet Kemsley

Felicity Ward: Busting a Nut. Felicity Ward

Felicity Ward

Jen Brister - Meaningless. Jen Brister

Jen Brister

Pierre Novellie: See Novellie, Hear Novellie, Speak Novellie. Pierre Novellie

Pierre Novellie


Find all the reviews for any show

We would like to stress our analysis makes no distinction between established broadsheet reviewers and blog sites run by students and their differing views on what a five star show is; plus - due to the nature of the way the press operates - there is a bias in this list towards already established and acclaimed comedy acts who are able to attract more press attention. Therefore a number of 'hidden gems' will doubtless have been overlooked.

This year Austentatious and Police Cops in Space both got five stars in every review they received, but were only reviewed three times each.

British Comedy Guide's review data is collected and analysed by Ian Wolf.


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Published: Friday 31st August 2018

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