Year-round Edinburgh institution Monkey Barrel Comedy has announced its first batch of shows for this year’s Fringe, taking place from Wednesday 31 July–Monday 26 August. This follows last year’s immensely successful run which included five Edinburgh Comedy Award nominees and a second consecutive win, Ahir Shah: Ends.

Returning acts include Pierre Novellie, Sarah Keyworth, Vittorio Angelone, Dan Tiernan and Amy Gledhill. And the Barrel has enticed plenty of newcomers to the venue, including Sara Pascoe, Paddy Young, Janine Harouni, Sara Barron and Stevie Martin. Other additions include BBC New Comedy Award winner Joe Kent-Walters, So You Think You’re Funny? winner Finlay Christie and Channel 4 Sean Lock Comedy Award winner Eric Rushton.

Scottish acts are well represented, with slots for Stuart McPherson, Eleanor Morton, Sam Lake, Amy Matthews, Chris Forbes, MC Hammersmith, Marc Jennings, Rosco McClelland, Mark Nelson and our very own Hot 100 number three, Marjolein Robertson. And among the big hitters are Glenn Moore, Nish Kumar, Catherine Bohart, Larry Dean, Olga Koch and 2022 Best Newcomer winner, Lara Ricote.

The Edinburgh Fringe takes place from Wednesday 31 July–Monday 26 August. Find out more about Monkey Barrel Comedy on their official site.