15 must-see LGBTQ+ acts and comedians at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 is packed with LGBTQ+ acts and performances. (Chambers Touring/Matthew Murph/Tom Platinum Morley)
The annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe is on the horizon, boasting another year of queer comedic gold and hilarious LGBTQ+ acts arriving in Scotland.
The Fringe is the world’s largest performance arts festival, where thousands are set to showcase their talents between the 7th and 31st of August.
For those specifically looking for queer talent, here are the acts to watch:
Adi Parmar: Sunny Boy
North Indian comedian Adi Parma is making his Fringe debut with Sunny Boy, a show about queer identity, masculinity and migration. Reflecting on family expectations, Parmar also explores what it is to build a life across cultures.
Parmar’s show reflects on his upbringing as the “miracle child” his parents prayed for for six years. Additionally, he speaks to his current life in a loving queer relationship and co-parenting two Dutch children with his partner and a lesbian couple.
Get tickets to Adi Parmar: Sunny Boy here.
Amy Matthews: Definitions of Toast
Edinburgh-based comic Amy Matthews brings a thoughtful show all about emotionally processing anger. The show explores Amy’s attempt to express her emotions when they’re delivered by carrier pigeon, queerness and being Best Supporting Actor in your own life.
Definitions of Toast also navigates the experience of loving people on their sobriety journey. The show has been described as deeply personal yet still universally relatable.
Get tickets to Amy Matthews: Definitions of Toast here.
Ayo Adenekan: Homeland Insecurity
Returning to Fringe for his second time, Ayo Adenekan’s new show arrives after Adenekan served as a writer on SNL UK series 1. The comedian’s Fringe debut was all about growing up Black and bisexual in Edinburgh.
Now, Adenekan returns to joke about the experience of unrequited love, summer romances, working in hospitality and starting out in stand-up comedy. With razor-sharp wit, Adenekan finds the humour and the chaos of catching feelings when you really shouldn’t.
Get tickets to Ayo Adenekan: Homeland Insecurity here.
ChatLGBT
Swap ChatGPT for ChatLGBT, an interactive show that asks audience members to put down their phones and put their burning questions directly to a panel of expert queer comedians. Bianca Boorer, Jordan Bonner, Willow Marler, and Robert Gould are on hand with all the answers.
Though, this hilarious concept is paired with a warning: you may be roasted for comedic value and/or receive terrible advice to make the plot more exciting!
Get tickets to ChatLGBT here.
Cruising
Queer female theatre company Dreambite Collective is making their Fringe debut with the premiere of Katrina Bennett’s new play Cruising. The subversive romcom orbits topics of polyamory, protest, and passion.
The play follows the meeting of a dancer and a climate activist on a Mediterranean cruise. They quickly become friends but soon discover they are both in a relationship with the same person. Drama! As their connections morph into a fierce rivalry, the duo must navigate these dangerous waters.
Get tickets to Cruising here.
Eva Peroni: Jungled
Eva Peroni arrived at the Fringe with her debut show at just 22. Jungled is Peroni’s tale of moving to Costa Rica at 17 from Livingston as a ‘boy mad wee bam’ and returning as a bald lesbian.
Peroni’s debut hour will also see her take on classism at Edinburgh University and being queer in Latin America. The show is about coming home and coming out. Additionally, Jungled endeavours to present what made Eva who she is and the impact of expressing one’s truth.
Get tickets to Eva Peroni: Jungled here.
Hannah Platt: Cult Classic
Hannah Platt’s brand-new stand-up show explores cult thinking, queerness, neurodiversity, and self-improvement culture. With brutally honest and frank humour, Platt endeavours to pick apart therapy culture, internet rabbit holes, identity and modern anxieties.
The show explores everything from hypnotherapy and mental health to her theory that polyamory is a recession indicator. Seeing self-improvement through a new lens, Platt explores that feeling of not belonging and asks whether we should all just start a cult.
Get tickets to Hannah Platt: Cult Classic here.
Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody
Following a premiere Off Broadway in New York, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody will make its UK debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. If you can’t get enough of Heated Rivalry, this one is for you!
Inspired by the hit show, this musical parody recreates some of the series’ most memorable moments to a soundtrack of pop bops. There are also cameos from characters like Rose Landry and Ilya’s ass. The show is a camp celebration of the passionate community the series has created.
Get tickets to Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody here.
Jack MacGregor: Prophets
Prophets is a dark psychological thriller that is set on the rocky, remote outpost of Saint John. The show follows a Scottish researcher arriving on the island when she discovers the population is under the control of a growing religious cult.
The researcher begins to move her studies from the land to the people as the cult’s day of paradise approaches. The two-hander drama examines the intersection between faith and cult and is also an exploration of violent belief at the edge of the world.
Get tickets to Jack MacGregor: Prophets here.
Kate Hammer: Government Approved Comedian
Canadian queer comic based in Glasgow, Kate Hammer’s show is about one mission: getting her visa and trying to stay in the UK. She’s willing to do anything, even become a court jester for Keir Starmer.
Exploring the complicated and visa process may not sound like a laughing matter, but Hammer finds the humour in it. For one, she’s realised making people laugh is literally her ticket to not facing deportation.
Get tickets to Kate Hammer: Government Approved Comedian here.
Linus Karp Was Hit With an Umbrella
Awkward Prods is bringing a new show to Fringe: Linus Karp Was Hit With an Umbrella. Best known for Gwyneth Goes Skiing and Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, the company’s latest production moves into more personal territory. Furthermore, the new show is inspired by a real-life homophobic attack against Linus Karp in Soho in 2024.
Linus and his partner Joseph were attacked with an umbrella and homophobic slurs. This is the show’s starting point. Then, Linus Karp explores the shock of the attack and the aftermath of being targeted for being visibly queer.
Get tickets to Linus Karp Was Hit With an Umbrella here.
Reuben Kaye: Hard To Swallow
International cabaret icon Reuben Kaye is returning to the stage. Combining political provocation, powerhouse vocals and explosive queer performance, Hard To Swallow is more political than ever and packed full of biting comedy.
Hard To Swallow takes aim at politics, identity, hypocrisy and the increasingly absurd state of the world. As ever, Kay’s chaotic and unapologetic energy brings this show to life.
Get tickets to Reuben Kaye: Hard To Swallow here.
Selina Mosinski: Puss In Boots – A Real Life Fairy Tale
Selina Mosinski, who is best known as Charity Shop Sue, is heading to Edinburgh for her Fringe debut. Before Charity Shop Sue, Selina Mosinski was Randy Cain: an 18-year-old stripper from Derby with a big personality, bigger ambition and zero intention of staying small-town.
Puss In Boots – A Real Life Fairy Tale blends memoir, character comedy and surreal storytelling to tell the story of how far one person will go in the name of fame and fortune.
Get tickets to Selina Mosinski: Puss In Boots – A Real Life Fairy Tale here.
Scout Boxall: God’s Favourite
Australian non-binary comic Scout Boxall – 2025 Pinder Prize winner and Melbourne’s ‘Most Outstanding Show’ nominee – is coming to Edinburgh. With God’s Favourite, Boxall embarks on a show all about being stranded without medication for the first time in 12 years.
In one surreal night, Boxall spirals into manic withrdawls, imagines life in the Middle Ages, makes peace with their own mediocrity and momentarily surrenders to God.
Get tickets to Scout Boxall: God’s Favourite here.
Swamplesque
Returning for the third year in a row, Swamplesque is a Shrek-inspired burlesque and drag parody show. Everyone’s favourite ogre-inspired show is back and grab tickets while you can, as this is a Fringe fan favourite!
Packed with camp dances and cringe-worthy gags, Swamplesque promises a night of laughter, surprises and a touch of the risqué. Don’t wait around, grab a ticket to the swamp!
Get tickets to Swamplesque here.
