I need a bit of cheering up this week. It’s so hot I can hardly focus, my local supermarket is all out of ice lollies and my homemade solar eclipse glasses showed little more than a few cornflake crumbs. So if I could be beamed up to Edinburgh Fringe for the world-famous comedy festival, I’d be gone in a heartbeat. And I’d be glad to have our guide to the 11 best shows of 2026 to steer me.
As a former nerdy child who spent my school lunch breaks gossiping with the dinner ladies, I’m particularly intrigued by Lady Bolognese: Class War. Dinner ladies Barbara and Veronica (played by comedy duo Tanika Lay-Meachen and Matt Straker) serve up “a scrumptious blend of greasy friendship and anarchic delight”. The show notes describe it as Thelma & Louise meets George’s Marvellous Medicine meets a big pile of offal. It sounds every bit as bonkers as a Fringe show ought to be.
