Before Festival madness truly smashes into Edinburgh like a cultural punching bag, it’s time for some annual leave (and as you can tell from the bin-fire simile in this opening sentence, I’m in dire need of a beach and a fruity cocktail). While you read this, I'll be catching Zs under a palm tree on an island where the sea is blue and the sand is warm under my feet (not really: you’ll find me cradling a pint in one of Edinburgh’s cheapest boozers).

Yet even one news monkey down, The List must march on, and so we present you with our Adelaide special. There are plenty of acts from the Adelaide Fringe we rated highly and a host of them are visiting Edinburgh this August. Take a look at our picks, all reviewed at the start of the year, and get ready to love them as much as we do. 

The Ceremony 

★★★★☆

‘Let’s get one thing straight: The Ceremony is not a cult. So what is it? Well, that’s harder to define. It’s created fresh every night, depending on the audience’s contributions. It’s sometimes unsettling, sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, sometimes provocative. It’s most certainly always a testament to the talents of Ben Volchok, who is confident enough to start the show in a silence that can stretch to up to 15 minutes or even for the duration of the show as he plays with the audience’s expectations. But it is not a cult.’ Read the full review here. 

The Ceremony, Summerhall, Thursday 1 August–Monday 26 August, 9.45pm.

Mel & Sam: High Pony

★★★★☆

‘Hold on to your high ponies, because here come Mel O’Brien and Samantha Andrews.  Billed as a look into their “craniums,” High Pony is a high energy variety show full of sketches, impressions, and all-original songs which belong equally in the club, at netball training, and at the afterparty of an amateur musical production.’ Read the full review here. 

Mel & Sam: High Pony, Pleasance Courtyard, Wednesday 31 July– Sunday 25 August, 9.50pm. 

Ten Thousand Hours

★★★★☆

‘The format is simple (and completely family friendly): bodies move through space. There are few props, no complex structures, towers or wires, just humans doing amazing things. Along the way there are a couple of games, a bit of audience interaction and live drums accompaniment. There’s also the odd slip or fall but that doesn’t matter; up they get and on they go, because mastery of any art is never “done”, rather it’s a continual state of learning and practice.’ Read the full review here. 

Ten Thousand Hours, Assembly Hall, Thursday 1 August–Saturday 24 August, 11.40am.  

An Evening Without Kate Bush

★★★★☆

‘This is a tribute show for people who don’t like tribute shows. While Kate Bush’s voice is undoubtedly present and correct in Sarah-Louise Young’s excellent portrayal, it never feels like Young is reaching for an exact impersonation. Rather, she captures the spirit and sensibilities of a performer who has been relentlessly, often cruelly, parodied since she first burst onto our collective consciousness back in the 70s.’ Read the full review here. 

An Evening Without Kate Bush, Assembly Checkpoint, Wednesday 31 July–Monday 26 August, 7.20pm. 

Kate Dolan: A Different Kind Of Unhinged 

★★★★☆

‘Dolan’s first solo show is a twisty-turny hour through her trials and tribulations, an excoriating analysis of class in the arts, and a love letter to the power of maternal love. Along the way, there’s plenty of audience work, some great characterisation, an excellent Edinburgh accent and an awful lot of laughs. Her humour and references are uncompromisingly British, but she’s so good natured (and the room’s so small) that you can ask her to explain anything too UK-specific: she’ll no doubt happily oblige.’ Read the full review here. 

Kate Dolan: A Different Kind Of Unhinged, Assembly George Square, Wednesday 31 July–Sunday 25 August, 8.50pm.  

Mel McGlensey Is Motorboat

★★★★☆

‘With the help of Captain Daddy and the Motorboat Manual, the audience is drawn into a surreal world of boats and boobs, where almost anything goes and nobody really knows what is happening; a hallmark of excellent clowning. Unabashedly sexual and silly, McGlensey is hilarious from the very first honk of the horn to the final climax.’ Read the full review here. 

Mel McGlensey Is Motorboat, Assembly Roxy, Wednesday 31 July–Sunday 25 August, 8.25pm.