Edinburgh festival 2024: all the must-see Jewish and Jew-ish shows

Venue 158 – PBH’s Free Fringe @ Whistlebinkies - Binkies Lounge

The “very, very funny” (the JC) Rachel Creeger is back at the Fringe with her hit show Ultimate Jewish Mother. She’ll be doing what Jewish mothers are famed for next month, and dishing out advice and judgment in equal measure. A huge success last year, this time round Creeger has been awarded one of the coveted Keep it Fringe bursaries. During the interactive show, Creeger invites the audience to decide who the best Jewish mother is: will it be you?

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Shall I Compere Thee In A Funny Way?

Comedy (stand-up), 18+ (restriction)

20:55, 55 minutes | Aug 3-18

Venue 156 – PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth - Cinema Room

 From comedy club to cruise ship, Philip Simon’s compèring capabilities know no bounds. This year, he’s in Edinburgh to regale you with his razor-sharp wit and famed one-liners. Described as “never less than hilarious” by The Stage, and runner up in the UK Pun Championships in 2020, Simon is a must-see.

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Must I Paint You a Picture

Comedy (stand up), 18+ (guideline)

22:55, 1 hour | Aug 2-25

Venue 243 – Hoots @ Potterrow - Wee Yurt

 Alex Kitson has a secret. One he’s fed up of keeping. So it’s time to keep it and what better way than in a stand-up show, you might ask. An “incredible” and “clever” show (BBC Radio) that sees this “master of his craft” (Capers Comedy) bring you an hour of jokes, more jokes, and tell you why horses are so sexy.

Clockwise from top left: Ivor Dembina, Alex Kitson, Dave Piontko, Ian Stone, Rachel Creeger, Aaron Levene[Missing Credit]

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The Worst Jew

Comedy (stand-up, storytelling), 12+ (guideline)

13:15, 45 minutes | Aug 1-18

Venue 75 – Laughing Horse @ West Port Oracle – Flight Club

David Ellis is not a good Jew. He doesn’t keep kosher, he doesn’t go to shul, and he definitely doesn’t know how to spell Chanukah – although to be fair, that’s a hard one. Back at the Fringe with his stand-up show The Worst Jew, Ellis will take you on a journey from bagels to the bris, from Seinfeld to shivas, from charoset to the house of bondage. With a history of successful shows, including NewsRevue, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare and Potted Potter, Ellis is sure to entertain.​

Rules Schmules: How To Be Jew-ISH

Comedy (music, storytelling), 12+ (guideline)

12:00, 1 hour | Aug 20-25

Venue 88 – Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Out of the Box

Suzie Depreli has an Asian-Catholic husband who speaks more Yiddish than her bubba, grew up in an Orthodox but pork sausage-noshing family and does Pesach but doesn’t believe in God. And next month, through songs and stories, she’s going to teach you how to be as Jew-ish as her.

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Jew-O-Rama

Comedy (stand-up, compilation), 18+ (restriction)

17:15, 1 hour | Aug 3-25

Venue 158 – PBH’s Free Fringe @ Whistlebinkies – Binkies Lounge

l Oy Vey! Jew-O-Rama is back at the 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 (see above), who is described as a “nice Jewish boy” and “very funny indeed” by the Cotswold Comedy Club and, indeed, his mother.

Clockwise from far left: Emily Markoe, Michael Shafar, Jamie Lerner, Leslie Gold, Al Lubel, Benjy Wilder and Alfie Dundas[Missing Credit]

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Millwall Jew

Comedy (stand-up, storytelling), 16+ (restriction)

14:15, 1 hour | Aug 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25

Venue 151 – Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 - The Alcove

Ivor Dembina may be Jewish, but that doesn’t mean he supports Tottenham. The “Obi-Wan Kenobi of comedy,” he’ll have you know that he is a loyal Millwall fan. In fact, he’s such a fan that a new documentary featuring the comedian, and his love for football, is out now. The first stand-up comedian to perform at the Houses of Parliament, Dembina has been performing at the Fringe for more than three decades and shows no signs of slowing down.

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Nineteen Ninety-Four

Comedy (stand-up, storytelling), 18+ (restriction)

17:45, 1 hour | Aug 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25

Venue 414 – Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly – Main Room

Ivor Dembina credits his long-term success to having “the brains to make sure there is a microphone facing the right way”, but his track record of stellar reviews suggests there might be something more there. His new show, Nineteen Ninety-Four, follows his hit stand-up sets SadoJudaism – which dealt with the worlds of fetishism and prostitution through Jewish eyes – and This is Not a Subject for Comedy, which looked at the Israel-Palestine conflict.

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A Chip Off the Gold Block

Comedy (stand-up, storytelling), 16+ (guideline)

16:00, 1 hour | Aug 1-25

Venue 151 – Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 – Upstairs

l A comedian with “savvy comedy chops” (EdFringeReview.com), Leslie Gold can this year add a prestigious Keep it Fringe bursary to her long list of accolades. When planning this, Gold was stuck with a difficult decision – to write a show about her Jewish upbringing, or her dead dad. She decided to blend the two. A Chip Off the Gold Block delivers “massive laughs in a small package”, says comedian Jordan Gray, and isn’t one to miss.

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Ian Stone: Is Keeping It Together

Comedy (satire), 16+ (guideline)

16:00, 1 hour | Aug 1-25

Venue 170 – Laughing Horse @ The Counting House - The Ballroom

Ian Stone is trying to keep it together. Aren’t we all? With a war in the Middle East, Trump on his way back to the White House, and our British summer as mixed as ever, it isn’t easy. Stone’s answer? A stand-up show. The acclaimed comedian, who has appeared on Mock the Week and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, comes to the Fringe this year with his “masterful exponent of self-mocking Jewish humour” ( TheTimes).

Top: Suzie Deprelli; second and third row: Bodega Bunnies; bottom row from left: David Ellis, Ori Lavey and Philip Simon[Missing Credit]

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Lots to Say

Comedy (stand-up), 16+ (guideline)

19:30, 45 minutes | Aug 1-26

Venue 108 – Hoots @ The Apex – Hoot 3

Jewish comic Michael Shafar has been working hard to win his mother’s forgiveness since leaving a career in law for comedy. Luckily for him – and for her – it seems to be working. After a sold-out 2023 season, the comic is back, and he has lots to say about the state of the world. Promising to touch on topics most comedians are wise to avoid, Shafar’s “wildly inventive darkly comic imagination” (Edinburgh Reporter) shines in his stand-up at the Fringe.

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Well Worth The Chemo

Comedy (stand-up), 18+ (restriction)

17:45, 45 minutes | Aug 1-25

Venue 89 – Laughing Horse @ Kick Ass Cowgate – Fringe Room

 “Shafar circumnavigates the line between edgy and offensive with beautiful finesse” (the Age) in his new show about – what else – chemotherapy. In his hilariously dark show, the Jewish-American cancer survivor and comic explains why the disease’s survivors have such a positive attitude, and how chemotherapy can help you achieve your goal weight.

Al Lubel talks About his name for 57 minutes and about something else for three minutes…

Comedy (stand-up)

21:30, 1 hour | Aug 4-24

Venue 324 – Leith Arches

Al Lubel talks about his name for 57 minutes and something else for three minutes. That’s sort of it, really – but it’s apparently very good. Not for nothing did Sarah Silverman call him one of the first alternative comedians before alt comedy even existed. And not for nothing has he racked up awards for said comedy since his big break on Star Search in 1988.

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001 – Laughing Matters (Work in Progress)

Comedy (stand-up, dark comedy)

22:15, 1 hour | Aug 2-25

Venue 151 – Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 - Upstairs

There are lots of things many of us have done to get away from our mothers. Pulling a sickie to avoid a family reunion, faking static on the phone, or pretending work is just so busy. But Ori Halvey has put us all to shame by moving to Berlin – the one place his Holocaust survivor mother would never visit. Go along to his show to find out if it worked.

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F*ck Tomorrow

Comedy (stand-up, musical comedy), 18+ (restriction)

14:05, 1 hour | Aug 3-12, 14-19, 21-25

Venue 148 – PBH’s Free Fringe @ Southsider – Southsider

 Born in New York and living in Barcelona, Jamie Lerner is your typical Jewish millennial woman. She’s silly, she’s sad, she’s horny, and she can play the piano – useful considering her new stand-up show is a musical comedy. At the Fringe this year, Lerner jokes about “all the girly things, like dating and ADHD”.

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Cold Brew Comedy

Comedy, 16+ (guideline)

13:55, 1 hour | Aug 1-25

Venue 288 – Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Snifter Room

The world is ending, but who cares? Not Benjy Wilder and Alfie Dundas, that’s for sure. The Jewish Gen Z duo are bringing their stand-up to the Fringe, not quite to set the world to rights, but to have a look at it while it stays broken. Two award-winning comics, nihilism, and coffee? There’s nothing not to like.

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Dave Piontkowski:  3 Kidneys, No Colon

Comedy (solo show), 18+ (restriction)

18:45, 45 minutes | Aug 1-23

Venue 164 – Laughing Horse @ Eastside - The Karaoke Room

Dave Piontkowski is an over-achiever. Before the age of 30, the comic had a chronic kidney disease – later requiring a transplant – ulcerative colitis, and a temporary colostomy bag. In his debut Fringe show, Pionkowski shares his humorous reflections on his health issues, a fast-food diet, and modern-day bathrooms. Oh, and worst of all, overbearing parents.

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Bodega Bonnies

Comedy (stand-up), 16+ (guideline)

18:45, 1 hour | Aug 2-12

Venue 12 – The Stand Comedy Club 3 & 4 - Stand 4

From the borough of Brooklyn to the Burgh of Edin, join New Yorkers Blair Dawson and Jill Gonzalez for a show of Scottish-American humour. Each night will feature a new rotation of the festival’s best comics from around the globe (but mostly from New York). The jokes are as unpredictable as the humour.

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A Speed Dating Comedy Show

Comedy (interactive, game show)

22:50, 1 hour | Aug 1-25

Venue 164 – Laughing Horse @ Eastside – The Den

 At Lolyamorous, you can kill two birds with one stone: enjoy a hit comedy show, and go on a blind date. At the interactive show, audience members can put their name in a bucket for the chance to have a one-minute on-stage date with another audience member. Oh, and be interviewed about their love life. Sound like fun? Then act fast, because Lolyamorous sold out last year.

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My Little Phobia

Comedy (dark comedy/theatre), 14+ (guideline)

17:10, 50 minutes | Aug 2-10, 13-17, 20-24

Venue 16 – Greenside @ Riddles Court – Clover Studio

 Emily Markoe has a little phobia. Don’t worry – it’s really just a little one. Nothing worth writing a show about, a show so good it would be nominated to the Adelaide Exchange Award 2024 at the Hollywood Fringe last month. So good it would be a must-see at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. This August Markoe is bringing her “hilarious and captivating” show about emetophobia (a fear of throwing up) to new audiences. Or at least she will so long as no one in the audience gets sick.

Clockwise from far left: David Hare, The Balls of Philadelphia, Daniel Cainer, Amy Lever, Naomi Paul, Nick Cassenbaum and Emma Jude Harris, Janusz Korczak. Centre: Jane Elias[Missing Credit]

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THEATRE:

Daniel Cainer’s Jewish Chronicles

Cabaret and Variety (musical theatre, storytelling), 12+ (guideline)

13:20, 1 hour | July 31-Aug 17, Aug 19-26

Venue 300 – Underbelly, George Square – The Wee Coo

 The multi-award-winning Daniel Cainer is bringing more stories in song to the Fringe this year – this time with a Jewish spin. His family tales aren’t just fun – they’re deeply moving. The Daily Express called his songs “heart-rending, delicate, and witty in all the right places”. No surprise, then, that Cainer was nominated both in 2023 and 2024 for the Manhattan Association of Cabarets Best Comedy Song Award.

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I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical

Musicals and Opera (cabaret, revue), 12+ (guideline)

18:00, 1 hour 10 minutes | Aug 1-6, 8-13, 15-20, 22-25

Venue 64 – Gilded Balloon at the Museum – Auditorium

After three Edinburgh Fringe seasons and a London run, the sell-out musical revue by Jewish composer and lyricist Alexander S Bermange has received more than 50 five-star reviews. Looking for a few more, “I wish my life were like a musical”, is returning to Edinburgh this summer to draw back the curtain on the world of musical theatre. Covering the journey from wide-eyed drama student to bratty diva, the show lifts the lid on all things musical and theatrical.

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Confessions of a Butterfly: An Evening with Janusz Korczak

Theatre (true life, thriller), 12+ (guideline)

15:30, 1 hour 30 minutes | Aug 2-10, 12-17, 19-24

Venue 236 – Greenside @ George Street – Ivy Studio

A moving one-act tribute to Polish-Jewish hero Janusz Korczak, Confessions of a Butterfly tells the story of a paediatric doctor in the Warsaw Ghetto. During a period of deprivation, degradation, and suffering, Korczak remained with the children he looked after in an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto until he and they were deported to the Treblinka concentration camp. Set the night before their deportation, Confessions of a Butterfly is a beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.

Revenge: After The Levoyah

Theatre (dark comedy, political), 14+ (guideline)

15:00, 1 hour | Aug 1-11, 13-18, 20-26

Venue 26 – Summerhall – Anatomy Lecture Theatre

 Revenge is a dish best served pickled for twins Dan and Lauren, who – after meeting ex-gangster Malcolm Spivak at their grandfather’s funeral – become embroiled in a plot to kidnap then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Written by Nick Cassenbaum and directed by Emma Jude Harris, the play takes a satirical look at what it means to be Jewish.

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In Defiance Of Gravity

Theatre (new writing, horror), 14+ (guideline)

21:15, 1 hour | Aug 1-11, 13-18, 20-26

Venue 26 – Demonstration Room

 Following sell-out runs of Jew…ish (2019) and Man of 100 Faces (2022), In Defiance of Gravity will be Unleash the Llama’s tenth year at the Fringe. This time, they’re tackling disinformation, delusion and belief. Blending illusion and physical theatre with an extraordinary story, In Defiance of Gravity charts the improbable rise of Ezra Montefiore, the greatest spirit medium of all time.

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Lost Girl

Theatre (new writing, solo show), 12+ (guideline)

11:50, 1 hour | Jul 31-Aug 11, Aug 13-26

Venue 300 – Underbelly, George Square – The Wee Coo

Birdy is looking for an EU passport, and thinks her estranged Jewish family might give her an in. But while digging through her family history, Birdy instead uncovered a family secret, one which had been buried since 1930s Cairo. Hailed “an excellent piece of theatre” (Manchester Jewish Museum), Lost Girl weaves together Lever’s own Jewish-Arab heritage, and broader themes of Jewish history.

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They May Have Eaten Ham!

Theatre (comedy, cabaret), 14+ (guideline)

17:05, 45 minutes | Aug 2-3, 5-10, 12-17

Venue 53 – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall - Theatre 3

Since her debut solo show premiered at the Fringe in 2011, Naomi Paul has been touring the country with successful cabaret, comedy and spoken-word acts. This year, she’s back at the 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”.

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Via Dolorosa

Theatre (drama, contemporary), 14+ (guideline)

09:45, 1 hour 10 minutes | Aug 2-10

Venue 53 – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall - Theatre 3

In 1997, playwright David Hare was sent to Israel by the Royal Court. He returned with a ground-breaking monologue, Via Dolorosa, which Gary Hay is presenting at this year’s Fringe. Dealing with the history, complexities, and tensions of the region, the play premiered in 1998, and has been performed ever since.

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Do This One Thing for Me

Theatre (storytelling, drama), 14+ (guideline)

15:30, 1 hour 15 minutes | Jul 31-Aug 11, Aug 13-18, 20-26

Venue 49 – Bedlam Theatre – Bedlam Theatre

 What does it mean to remember the Holocaust in 2024? How do you bear the legacy of trauma while forging ahead in the 21st century? Jane Elias grapples with these questions through an acute portrait of her relationship with her father, a Greek Shoah survivor. Realising she may not be able to grant his wish to one day dance together at her wedding, she instead honours him by taking part in the March of the Living in Poland. A transcendental pas de deux between two generations, this play is also a daughter’s love letter to her father.

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The Balls of Philadelphia, Danielle Solof

Theatre (storytelling, solo show), 18+ (restriction)

17:10, 1 hour | Aug 2-10, 12-17, 19-24

Venue 16 – Greenside @ Riddles Court – Pickle Studio

 Danielle Solof is confused. She thinks she might be spiritually destined to be with an idiot. After meeting a guy on a dating app, she begins to experience an overwhelming number of coincidences, each one relating back to him. The Balls of Philadelphia chronicles a year and a half of signs, symbols and synchronicity, as Solof tries to work out what to do.

Diary of a Gay Disaster

Theatre (comedy, musical)

10:10pm 1 hour | August 1 to 25

Venue – 61 Belly Button @ Underbelly Cowgate 

Diary of a Gay Disaster centers the experience of queer women and non-binary people by using humour to celebrate them and challenge some of the more difficult trials they may face.

The show follows Ellis, who is thrown into a fever dream alongside “angel dykes,” Mia, who is played by Jewish queer actress Talya Soames and Finlay.

The pair guide Ellis through a journey of self-discovery using a magical gay diary. Characters break down their lived experiences through a catchy modern-pop score with songs such as “Is She Queer or Just a Hipster?”, “Reduce Reuse Recycle” and “Everybody Wants to be Gay.”

The show débuted at The King’s Head Theatre in London last year to rave 5* reviews, selling out all 9 shows. And large audiences have been found on TikTok and Instagram, where the show has garnered over 8 million views, 1.6 million likes and 85k followers.

Diary of a Gay Disaster at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[Missing Credit]