As with every week in the run-up to Edinburgh's busy season, a wellspring of announcements has flown into our inboxes. This week, another venue has unveiled its line-up, a brand-spanking new Fringe app has returned after its glaring absence last year, and we're highlighting a few critically lauded acts that are visiting the Scottish capital. 

^{Anna Piper-Scott will perform Such An Inspiration at House Of Oz}

House Of Oz reveals its full Festival programme…

…After winning Best Venue in its first edition last year. Eight acts will make House Of Oz their homethis August, spanning comedy, cabaret, circus and more. The shows, which will run daily at the venues throughout the Festival, are Two Strangers Walk Into a Bar…, an immersive audio experience which invites audience members to make connections with each other; Maureen, Johnny Hawkins’ celebration of glamour queens; Common Dissonance, a combination of circus and contemporary theatre which ‘explores modern Australian identity and asks if there is space for the acceptance of indigenous spirituality in 21st Century Australia’; Anna Piper-Scott: Such An Inspiration, trans comedian Scott’s examination of trans controversies, including how the trans world is discussed in stand-up; Beetle, a physical theatre piece following the story of a child on a quest to search for the elusive Christmas Beetle; The Listies Make Some Noise, a mixture of sketches, songs and clowning for all ages; A Migrant’s Son, in which performer Michaela Burger pays tribute to her Greek migrant family and hard-working, fun-loving larrikin father Luke who defied all odds; and Leather Lungs: Higher Love, in which the cabaret diva Leather Lungs takes to the House Of Oz stage to blast out classic hits from Abba and Queen. Find out more about the programme here. 

The Fringe app returns…

…after controversially being unavailable last year as part of cost-saving measures from the Fringe Society. Last year’s removal of the app caused the performers union Equity to demand a refund of the registration fee paid by productions. Fringe chief executive Shona McCarthy said that in the wake of Covid, there was no budget to cover the £100,000 it would have cost, stating, ‘I apologise unreservedly for the distress that this has clearly caused.’

This year’s app has been developed with Australian-based agency equ. McCarthy said of the development: ‘Developing an app required to support the scale and complexity of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes a significant period of time and resource, and we are delighted to be able to share the exciting features which will be launched within the app for this year’s festival. We recognise the app is a key tool for Fringe artists, with many audiences using it to explore new ideas and performances they may not have yet experienced, and the “nearby now” functionality is particularly useful for performers who offer free shows within the programme.

‘We’ve ensured that the new app does all that and more, and while there’s still a few more weeks before it’s fully ready, I can’t wait for Fringe audiences to download it and support the thousands of artists performing in Edinburgh this summer.’

^{Lara Ricote/Picture: Steve Ullathorne}

Edinburgh Comedy Award Lara Ricote returns to the Fringe…

…for a short work-in-progress run. Ricote won Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her debut show GRL/LATNX/DEF, a showcase of her goofy humour which explored notions of race, gender and disability that led to almost universal critical praise. Her work in progress show this year will be performed from Friday 11 August until Wednesday 16 August at Monkey Barrel Comedy.

Four stars or more 

Clowning extraordinaire Julia Masli will be performing two shows at this years Fringe, her brand new show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha at Monkey Barrel Comedy from 4 August until 15 August and a reprise of last years hour CHOOSH! At Assembly George Square Gardens from 22 August until 27 August. We gave CHOOSH! Four stars when it was performed in 2022. ‘From snow and water to Maltesers and condoms, all manner of substances make an appearance on stage, each masterfully used to build and defuse tension,’ wrote our reviewer Megan Merino. ‘Clunky transitions are part of the shtick and audience engagement is the show’s main driving force. Sadly, the only thing that slows Masli down during this particular performance is an apprehensive crowd who don’t always match the energy she emits. But her instantly likeable nature and ingenious concepts keep things ticking along, even when onlookers aren’t prepared to get on her level.’ Read the full review here.