Questions answered by Rachel-Anne Clarke.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Definitely did not invent a faux podcast to get eyes on reels…..or did we? @pureleocomedy

Q2: If your show walked into a cocktail bar, what would it order?

Long Island ice tea because it’s a little bit of everything and a guaranteed good time!

Q3: The Fringe is horribly expensive. How are you financing this run? Did you remortgage your house, sell your granny, or start an illicit side hustle?

Credit cards and overdraft baby! PLS COME SEE US.

Q4: If you brought this show home for the holidays, how would your parents react to them?

They’ll form a lifelong bond with the daughters they never had (they have a daughter).

About the show

Coming Through

Date(s): Limited run

Time(s): Afternoon (Between 12-noon and 6pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Melissa Irakoze.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Every ‘so proud of you!’ text I get, I reply with a ticket link and the words ‘prove it.

Q2: Cancel culture has finally come for your show. What sins has it committed?

Ending on a reveal so devastating that people leave not speaking to the friend they came with. It has broken up more group chats than it can count.

Q3: All shows will have their tough days. What sophisticated self-care strategies will you employ to survive?

Reminding myself that Phoebe Waller-Bridge also started somewhere.

Q4: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

A humidifier producing ‘an atmosphere of quiet dread

About the show

The Last Girl There

Date(s): Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Afternoon (Between 12-noon and 6pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Joyce Lao.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

I will be interviewing strangers on the streets in character, do a husband casting call, and actively post on instagram.

Q2: The Fringe is horribly expensive. How are you financing this run? Did you remortgage your house, sell your granny, or start an illicit side hustle?

Dr. Kara acquired new clients and charged her cult members more money for their sessions.

Q3: All shows will have their tough days. What sophisticated self-care strategies will you employ to survive?

Dr. Kara will look for a client, that she will turn into her lover to give her all the love languages there is.

Q4: How will the audience remember you the morning after?

Single or partnered, they will all call Dr. Kara for relationship advise and in return, Dr. Kara will convince them to give up all their riches in the name of LOVE… for Dr. Kara!

About the show

Dr. Kara Kibara – The Love Guru

Date(s): Limited run

Time(s): Afternoon (Between 12-noon and 6pm)

Ticket type: Pay what you can

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Questions answered by Kris Buxton.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Walking around the Royal Mile with giant light switches attached to us so we can TURN people ON to our show;)

Q2: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

A diamond studded dildo.

Q3: If you brought this show home for the holidays, how would your parents react to them?

They’d probably be very disappointed in us…but hopefully they would finally start to get the concept of bisexuality.

Q4: How will the audience remember you the morning after?

Oh they’ll be smoking a cigarette.

About the show

What Happens in the Dark

Date(s): Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm) • Late (After 10pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Scarlet Chen.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

I’m going to wear my Mountie hat (fresh from a Canadian souvenir shop), stand outside The Mash House shouting “She’s Chinese, She’s Canadian, She’s Confused!” at strangers until someone feels enough existential dread to buy a ticket just to make me stop.

Q2: We all have weird pre-performance rituals. What is yours, and how confused would a normal person be if they walked in on you doing it?

A series of guttural noises loud enough that the venue owner has now knocked twice to check we’re not running an illegal séance, then I scream: How are you? Fine. Thank you. And you? She sells seashells on the seashore.

Q3: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

A full kitchen to cook fresh potstickers before every show — for my fans, obviously. My diva demands: I fry them myself, 12 sous-chefs handle wrapping and filling, 6 more perfect the dipping sauce (they all look like Ryan Gosling). Do not call them ‘Chinese ravioli.

Q4: If you brought this show home for the holidays, how would your parents react to them?

My mom: ‘Telling jokes on stage — is that a real job? How much do you make? Do you get dental?’ Then she’d turn around and tell the whole city I’m a big star in Hollywood. My dad wouldn’t say anything. He’s dead. I miss him.

About the show

Citizen Chen

Date(s): Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm)

Ticket type: Pay what you can

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Questions answered by Aalex Mandel-Dallal.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Guilt. People don’t see it coming; they expect a flyer and next thing they know I’m crying into their arm hair telling them my DEEP TRUTHS and how if they don’t come my life will be ruined, not just financially.

Q2: Cancel culture has finally come for your show. What sins has it committed?

Throwing a yellow pages at my sister, I was 8, there was no evidence of it on the internet but there was blood and my fans found the bloody carpet and the damage was done.

Q3: The Fringe is horribly expensive. How are you financing this run? Did you remortgage your house, sell your granny, or start an illicit side hustle?

I have a successful business on Etsy where I sell my old gratitude journals; people pay big bucks for joy.

Q4: All shows will have their tough days. What sophisticated self-care strategies will you employ to survive?

Cheeky trip to Peri Peri’s, salt the chips with my tears. Once the food goes down the wounds are healed.

About the show

Aalex Mandel-Dallal: Where Was I?

Date(s): Previews week (Fri 31st July to Thurs 6th Aug) • Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug) • Weekend(s)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Stacy Price.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Shameless begging and pathetic looks to the crowds walking through the streets: think NEWT in ALIENS. ALSO. I have ordered HOSPITAL BRACELETS which have the name, time of Citizen Otherplace; I am putting them on people’s wrists. WE are doing it, it’s happening.

Q2: If your show walked into a cocktail bar, what would it order?

She would start to order water, then she would change her mind, go for a Long Island Iced Tea, a beer and then just when the other people waiting to order behind her gave up, THEN she’d do a couple shots of Tequila.

Q3: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

A rotating closet from the movie Clueless, and a group of friends that are also her “maids.” She would try everything on, get really specific commentary on her outfits and then have the friends hang them back up. She would feel badly about this and send them all pink roses.

Q4: How will the audience remember you the morning after?

A tingly sensation in their brain. They will remember the feeling of a plush fruit in their wrists that they will hurl into space. They will say to themselves “Utoh, you found me!”

About the show

Citizen Otherplace

Date(s): Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Afternoon (Between 12-noon and 6pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Diane Waugh for The Next Act.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

We haven’t quite reached that point yet so it will likely be a spontaneous desperate plan. Maybe involving bribing the audience with sweets of some kind, offers of a nice sit down in a (hopefully) coolish room away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets.

Q2: If your show walked into a cocktail bar, what would it order?

Susan from ‘Bed among the Lentils’ – cheap strong wine, Irene from ‘A Lady of Letters’ – maybe a small sweet sherry, Doris from ‘Cream Cracker under the Settee’ – a port and lemon, our only cocktail drinker would be Lesley from ‘Her Big Chance’ – Pina Colada with a big sparkler.

Q3: Cancel culture has finally come for your show. What sins has it committed?

Just the sin of being sharply observed, poignant but also humorous writing of female characters who’ve lived between early 1900s up to the mid 1980s, so some language and terms may sound a tad discordant to 2026 ears but not overly nasty, just people living in a changing world

Q4: How will the audience remember you the morning after?

We hope the audience will remember the laughs and the sad bits and think of our characters fondly in spite of their many flaws. We also hope they remember the rapturous applause that they give us at the end of each show 😉

About the show

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads

Date(s): Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Emmeline Hartley.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

We’re millennials doing TikTok trends ffs. We’ve also started exploiting small businesses for our crowdfunder rewards, and we’re taking a very lax approach to personal space when slapping our promo stickers on people (ironic for a consent-heavy play). Promo – 1, integrity – 0.

Q2: Cancel culture has finally come for your show. What sins has it committed?

Can you believe that, in the year of our lord 2026, we have the nerve to whip out an ANIMATRONIC TARANTULA and force DnB/metal on our audience?! It’s a disgrace, in fairness. The tarantula alone probably sits us somewhere between ‘screenshot apology from notes app’ and jail time…

Q3: All shows will have their tough days. What sophisticated self-care strategies will you employ to survive?

We’ve budgeted for one pasty from Piemaker per day, i.e. an hour of crying/secretly charging our phones/sheltering from the rain in their window each afternoon. Basically a spa day in Edinburgh terms. Also headbutting Greyfriars Bobby just to feel something as and when necessary.

Q4: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

Based on the two massive egos of the protagonists, our show would demand a crate of San Pellegrino Limonata (but decanted into fanta cans to look like a man of the people), and a vat of raspberry ice vape (concealed in a Marlboro Reds carton to look like a tortured artiste).

About the show

We Had Fun

Date(s): Previews week (Fri 31st July to Thurs 6th Aug) • Week 1 (Fri 7th to Thurs 13th Aug) • Week 2 (Fri 14th to Thur 20th Aug) • Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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Questions answered by Sam Joseph.

Q1: Aside from this Quickie, what is the most desperate marketing tactic you plan on using to get bums in seats this August? 280 chars

Convincing students of Japanese they can laugh WHILE they learn

Q2: Cancel culture has finally come for your show. What sins has it committed?

Too vigorous a blend of hysteria and heartfeltness at the expense of appropriating another culture’s fashion and language

Q3: We all have weird pre-performance rituals. What is yours, and how confused would a normal person be if they walked in on you doing it?

Prancing about in wooden Japanese shoes

Q4: If your show suddenly developed a massive ego and became the biggest diva in the 2026 Fringe, what absurd, hyper-specific item would be mandatory on its dressing room rider?

Not sure I understand the question. My ego is bigger than the known universe and I am the biggest diva of the 2026 Fringe, and I always insist on a dressing room rider dressed in the style of whichever jockey has won the grand national

About the show

I Think I’m Turning Japanese, I Really Think So, NOT!

Date(s): Final week(s) (Fri 21st to Mon 31st Aug)

Time(s): Evening (Between 6pm and 10pm)

Ticket type: Paid

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