Best-reviewed Edinburgh Fringe shows 2022
British Comedy Guide has now completed its customary analysis of all Edinburgh Festival Fringe comedy show coverage, and is able to disclose which productions critics preferred.
In 2019 we noted there was a drop in press output compared to 2018, and posited this might be due to a combination of rising accommodation costs and lack of funding for the press making it harder for reviewers to attend the festival. We can now confirm that 2022 has seen a further 25% reduction in reviews for comedies staged at the Fringe.
This year we found 2,450 reviews from across the media to determine this list, compared to 4,700 reviews in 2018. Based upon the 25% drop in volume of reviews on 2019, we have also dropped by a quarter our minimum-rating-count requirement for inclusion in the list, from eight to six.
Here are all comedies that attained an average star rating of more than 4.0 across all ratings they received. Click on the each title to see the respective reviews.
Paul Sinha: One Sinha Lifetime
Colin Hoult: The Death of Anna Mann
Ellie MacPherson: Happy Birthday, Mr. President!
Amy Gledhill: The Girl Before The Girl You Marry
Rhys Nicholson - Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!
Glenn Moore: Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, Glenn I'm Sixty Moore
Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!
Posey Mehta: I Am Not a Gorilla
Alasdair Beckett-King: Nevermore
Jordan Brookes: This Is Just What Happens
Randy Feltface: Alien of Extraordinary Ability
Britney: Friends and Nothing More
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Catherine Bohart: This Isn't For You
How to Live a Jellicle Life: Life Lessons from the 2019 Hit Movie Musical CATS
Ania Magliano: Absolutely No Worries If Not
Josh Pugh: Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans
Pierre Novellie: Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things?
John Hastings: Do You Have Any Ointment My John Hastings
Hal Cruttenden: It's Best You Hear It From Me
Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Home Truths
The Delightful Sausage: Nowt but Sea
Seann Walsh: Is Dead. Happy Now?
Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle
Our methodology does not distinguish between established/professional/broadsheet reviewers and blogs run by fans and students: we count all ratings published. It should also be noted that there is a clear bias in this list - and in live comedy reviewing in general - towards established and acclaimed comedy acts who are able to attract more critics to see them in the first place: a number of hidden gems will doubtless have been overlooked from this list as a result. For example, Neil Delamere didn't make the threshold of receiving six ratings, but the one reviewer who did see his show gave it a full five stars.
Do browse our listings to find other comedians to look out for in the months ahead - there's much more to live comedy than a reviewer's personal opinion of what is "good".
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