The world's largest performance arts festival returns this August to Edinburgh. And with thousands of shows taking place, it's hard to know what – and what not – to see.
So, to narrow your options, we've put together a list of the best Jewish acts at the Fringe. Comedy award winners, magicians and musical theatre performers are all descending on the Scottish capital between the 4th and the 28th.
From stand up with wild animals to examining antisemitism, Jewish acts at Fringe have a lot to offer.
The Edinburgh Fringe began in 1947, when eight theatre companies turned up unannounced to the Inaugural Edinburgh Festival. Since then, the Fringe has grown to be the largest in the world.
Ivor Dembina (Photo Steph Bor)
Ivor Dembina (Photo: Steph Bor)
Millwall Jew
Ivor Dembina
Comedy
16+ (restriction)
Venue 151 Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 the Alcove
2.15pm (1 hour)
Aug 3-7, 9-14, 16-21, 23-27
l Ivor Dembina is tired of people assuming he supports Tottenham. Instead, he’s sworn allegiance to his local club — Millwall. Nicknamed the “Obi-Wan Kenobi of comedy”, he was the first stand-up comedian to perform at the Houses of Parliament.
His act focuses on his Jewish identity, and he has had previous hits with “sadoJudaism” and old Jewish jokes. Dembina has been performing at the Fringe since 1991, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Naomi Paul
Naomi Paul (Photo: Handout)
They May Have Even Eaten Ham!
Naomi Paul
Theatre, comedy,
Cabaret. 14+ (guideline)
Venue 53 theSpace @ surgeons Hall- Theatre 3
5pm (45 minutes)
Aug 4-5, 7-12, 14-19
l Since her debut solo show premiered at Fringe in 2011, Naomi Paul has been touring the country with successful cabaret, comedy and spoken-word acts. This year, she’s back at Fringe with They May Have Even Eaten Ham!, a Jews(ish) comedy show about the things that unite and the things which divide. Topical and incisive, the British Theatre Guide called it a “fine comic celebration of modern Britain”.
Coexistence My A**
Noam Shuster-Eliassi
Comedy, solo show
Venue 151 Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 – Upstairs
4pm (1 hour)
Aug 3-6, 8-13, 15-20, 22-27
JW3 crowned her Best New Jewish Comedian of the Year in 2018, and she’s performed everywhere from Berlin to Rwanda — Noam Shuster-Elassi’s fringe show is set to be a roaring success.
A late-comer to the comedy circuit, Shuster-Elassi worked at the UN in her 20s, and it was at Harvard where she developed her first one-woman show. Coexistence My A** is about everything from her Palestinian best friends to her marriage proposal to a Saudi prince.
Rules Schmules — How to be Jew-ish
Suzie Depreli
Music, storytelling, new writing
Venue 41 Hill Street, Dunedin
10.40pm (1 hour)
Aug 21-27
Suzie Depreli has an Asian Catholic husband who speaks more Yiddish than her Nana, grew up in an Orthodox — but sausage-eating — family, and celebrates Pesach but doesn’t believe in God. She’s going to teach you how to be Jewish like her through original songs, comedy, and storytelling.
Bennett Arron (Credit Bennett Arron)
Bennett Arron (Photo: Bennett Arron)
Loser
Bennett Arron
Comedy
16+ (guideline)
Venue 276 PBH’s Free Fringe @ Liquid Rooms Annexe
4.15pm (1 hour)
Aug 5-27
BennetT Arron iS the “Welsh Seinfeld” according to The Guardian. But in his own mind, he’s nothing but a loser. From presenting TV and radio, to writing sit-coms, and even being shortlisted for a Bafta, he seems to be a success.
So why does life keep throwing him curveballs? At least it’s good material for a Fringe show.
Sophie Sucks Face
Sophie Zucker
Musical, comedy
16+ (guideline)
302 Underbelly, Bristo Square, Dexter
10.15pm (75 minutes)
Aug 2 - 28
Sophie Zucker’s one-woman musical confronts all the staples of life in your twenties: love, death — and incest. When she accidentally hooks up with her cousin at her grandfather’s funeral, she writes it off as a one-off. But when her grandmother dies soon after, she’s faced with a dilemma. Shun or seduce?
Aaron Simmonds (Photo Steve Ullathorne)
Aaron Simmonds (Photo: Steve Ullathorne)
Baby Steps
Aaron Simmonds
Comedy, solo show, stand-up
16+ (guideline)
Venue 33 Pleasance Courtyard
4.15pm (1 hour)
Aug 2-13, 15-28
Aaron Simmonds has done stand-up for years from his wheelchair but he’s never done it, well, standing up.
And for his standing stand-up debut, he’s chosen the hilliest, cobbliest city in the UK. What could possibly go wrong?
With a joke that cost him £200, and a history of successful shows since his debut in 2019, Simmonds was JW3’s Jewish Comedian of the Year in 2017, quite an achievement for someone who told the JC last year that growing up: “The idea of being a comedian was the same kind of aspiration of wanting to be a footballer.”
Ashley Blaker (Photo: Steve Ullathorne)
Ashley Blaker (Photo: Steve Ullathorne)
Normal Schmormal
Ashley Blaker
Comedy
Venue 302 Underbelly, Bristo Square Buttercup
17.15 (1 hour)
Aug 2-14, 16-27
Ashley Blaker has six children, and three of them have Special Educational Needs. It’s not a “normal household” but who wants normal? Blaker walks you through his dizzying life from therapy to playdates, meetings to public humiliations, and the occasional bout of violence, it’s a whirlwind of an hour.
Deb Filler (Credit Deb Filler)(1)
Deb Filler (Photo: Deb Filler)
Kravitz, Cohen,
Bernstein and Me
Deb Filler
Theatre, character comedy, music. 12+ (guideline)
Venue 20 Assembly Rooms: Drawing Room
19:00 (1 hour 10 mins)
Aug 3-13, 15-27
Deb Filler is filled with “gusto, charm, brilliance, talent, and chutzpah,” according to the NZ Herald. She’s also filled with a love for the “three Lennys” — Kravitz, Cohen, and Bernstein. Her musical, about mentors and music, which features the Beatles in Yiddish, is jam-packed and heartfelt, and not one to miss.
How to Be an Antisemite
Marlon Solomon
Spoken Word, comedy, political
12+ (guideline)
Venue 24 Gilded Saloon Patter Hoose
16:20 (1 hour)
Aug 4-10, 12-27
Antisemitism and comedy aren’t usually words you’d see next to each other — but not in Marlon Soloman’s case. His wry comedy takes his own experience as a target of antisemitism and applies it to an investigation into a shocking underbelly of society.
From 9/11 to Holocaust denial, through a quick lizard-shaped detour, Solomon looks at where antisemitism came from, why it’s more popular than ever, and what we can do about it.
Liz Toonkel (Photo Myles Pettengill)(2)
Liz Toonkel (Photo: Myles Pettengill)
Magic for Animals
Liz Toonkel
Theatre, magic, comedy
Venue 236 Greenside @ Infirmary street – Olive studio
23:25 (50 minutes)
Aug 4-5, 7-12, 14-19, 21-26
Liz Toonkel cares about animal rights, and wants you to care too. The best way to persuade you of animals’ agency? A magic show, of course. Her one-woman show looks at agency, consent, and the gendered, speciesist tradition of magic.
Underneath the sparking humour, her magic show encourages us to reconsider how we treat animals, and each other.
Anything That We Wanted To Be
Adam Lenson
Multimedia, musical theatre
14+ (guideline)
Venue 26 Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre
12:30 (1 hour).
Aug 2-13, 15-20, 22-27
Director and producer Adam Lenson specialises in musical theatre, but he hasn’t always been a comedian. In fact, he trained as a doctor. His show is about the what-ifs, the might-have-beens, and the could-haves of life.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2019, Lenson has come to a point of acceptance. One-third gig, one-third lecture, and one-third memoir, his show is about learning to accept the choices you’ve made, and the choices you couldn’t.
The Death & Life of All of Us
Victor Esses
Theatre, storytelling
12+ (guideline)
Venue 26 Summerhall – Demonstration Room
11:30 (55 minutes).
Aug 2-6, 8-12, 15-20, 22-27
The Death & Life of All of Us is multimedia, multi-generational, and even multi-continental show. A reclaiming of erased histories, Victor Esses explores the story of his long-lost great-aunt. Marcelle who moved from Lebanon to Italy, and from Judaism to Christianity. Esses explores her complex history and investigates her life-long secret.
Rachel Creeger (Ruth Bloch)(2)
Ultimate Jewish Mother (Photo: Handout)
Ultimate Jewish Mother
Rachel Creeger
Comedy, stand-up, solo show
Venue 158 PBH’s Free Fringe @ Whistlebinkies – Binkies Lounge
13:30 (1 hour)
Aug 6-11, 13-18, 20-25, 27
The “very, very funny” (the JC) Rachel Creeger is back at Fringe after a sell-out run with It’s No Job for a Nice Jewish Girl. This time, she’s dishing out advice and judgment in equal measure. During the interactive show, Creeger invites the audience to decide who the best Jewish mother is — will it be you?
Petting zoo (Photo Arin Sang-urai)(2)
Petting zoo (Photo: Arin Sang-urai)
Petting Zoo Comedy Michael Kandel & Charlie Sosnick
Comedy
Venue 14 Gilded Balloon Teviot – Sportsmans
22:20 (1 hour)
Aug 2-20
What goes best with live comedy? Live animals, of course. In Kandel and Sosnick’s Petting Zoo, comedians perform stand-up while sharing the stage with a live animal. From a chinchilla to a boa constrictor, there’s nothing between the comedian and the wildest of wildlife (except a professional animal handler).
Petting Zoo, a Brooklyn sensation featured in the New Yorker isn’t one to miss. Unless you have a crippling fear of snakes.
Shall I Compere Thee in a Funny Way
Philip Simon
Comedy
18+ (restriction)
Venue 156 PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth – Cinema Room
20:55 (55 minutes)
Aug 5-20
From comedy club to cruise ship, Philip Simon's compering capabilities know no bounds. This year, he’s in Edinburgh to regale you with his razor-sharp wit, and famed one liners — he was runner up in the UK Pun Championships in 2020. Called “never less than hilarious” by The Stage, Simon is a must-see.
Jew-o-Rama
Philip Simon & Aaron Levene
Comedy
18+ (restriction)
Venue 158 – PBH’s Free Fringe @ Whistlebinkies – Binkies Lounge
17:15 (1 hour)
Aug 5-27
Oy Vey! Jew-o-Rama is back at Fringe! Hosting the very best of Jewish, Jew-ish, and not at all Jewish, comedy, the ever-changing line up means you can see this show again and again. Created by Aaron Levene, the show is also hosted by Philip Simon, described as a “nice Jewish boy” and “very funny indeed” by the Cotswold Comedy Club and, indeed, his mother.
