4 days ago
Four Star Edinburgh Fringe Festival Comedy 2025: 12 shows the Scotman critics have loved you can still get tickets for this weekend
It's approaching the end of the first week of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the reviews have been pouring in.
With the physical programme containing over 3,350 shows across 265 venues, it can be a daunting task to work out what exactly you are going to see.
At The Scotsman we review hundreds of shows every year, with the best receiving a sought-after four or five star rating.
This year we have yet to award a comedy show with a rare five stars, but there have been several that have earned four stars.
More importantly, several of those still have ticket availability for this weekend (August 8-10) so you can go and see what all the fuss is all about (bad luck if you wanted to see American star Rosie O'Donnell though - she's totally sold out after her four star review earlier in the week).
Here are 12 four star comedy shows our team of critics would recommend you see this weekend.
1 . Patrick Monahan: The Good, The Pat, and The Ugly
Patrick Monaghan is on at the Gilden Balloon Patter Hoose until August 24. What we said: "His kind of funny is an irresistible force and he doesn't leave anyone behind." | Contributed Photo Sales
2 . Thor Stenhaug: One Night Stand Baby
Thor Stenhaug is sold out this Friday and Saturday but there are still tickets left on Sunday and for the rest of his run until August 25 at the Pleasance Courtyard. What we said: "The boyish, almost perma-smiling comic has an irrepressible sunniness, eliciting big laughs for his carefully apportioned bleakness." | Contributed Photo Sales
3 . Ada and Bron: The Origin of Love
There are still tickets left for Ada and Bron's 11pm show at the Pleasance Courtyard, throughout its run ending on August 24. What we said: "He's highly watchable and versatile. She's a future star, recalling Caroline Aherne, Tracey Ullman or Morwenna Banks' most memorably girlish turns." | Contributed Photo Sales
4 . Pierre Novellie: You Sit There, I'll Stand Here
Pierre Novellie has sold out a couple of his shows at 7.05pm at the Monkey Barrel, but there's still availability for most dates, including this Friday and Sunday (Saturday's sold out, but if you arrive early and queue you may still get in). What we said: "It's rare for an hour to whizz by so fast, for nothing to be for one to wish for a show to be much longer." | Contributed Photo Sales
