From animal magic to freedom fighting showgirls, DANIELLE GOLDSTEIN PICKS the finest ways to have fun at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

COMEDY

Aaron Simmonds: Baby Steps

Prepare to be shocked and amazed as 2017’s Jewish Comedian of the Year does stand-up like never before: standing up. Having suffered with cerebral palsy since he was two years old, Aaron Simmonds has, for the past eight years, been doing all his shows in a wheelchair. But for some that wouldn’t fly and he was trolled for not being disabled enough – something he tackled in his 2019 Edinburgh debut, Disabled Coconut. Now he’s bringing his sharp observational wit to tackle those disability shamers face on. Literally.
➤ Wednesday 2 – Monday 28 August. 4.25pm. £10/£11, £10/£9 concs. Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ.

Ashley Blaker: Normal Schmormal

Astute Orthodox comedian and writer for TV and radio Ahsley Blaker, who produced Little Britain alongside Matt Lucas, returns with his first Edinburgh stand-up show since 2018. Unlike his previous offering, Observant Jew, this time he’s shifting the focus from faith to family. His six-strong brood to be precise, three of whom have special needs. Between the endless meetings, countless therapists, public humiliations, failed playdates and occasional violence, it's certainly not a "normal" household. But would he want it any other way?
➤ Wednesday 2 – Sunday 27 August. 5.15pm. £10/£11, £9/£10 concs. Underbelly, Bristo Square, EH8 9AG.

Adam Kay: Undoctored – This is Going to Hurt… More

Since he last appeared in Edinburgh in 2016 – evangelising Tom Lehrer and Fingering a Minor at the Piano, ahem – Jewish comic Adam Kay has become a household name. He was already a noted writer on sitcoms such as Mitchell and Webb and Mrs Brown’s Boys, but it was his debut book, This is Going to Hurt, based on diaries from his years as a junior doctor, which sent him stratospheric. As gut-clenchingly funny as it was gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking, the book was picked up for a BBC series starring Ben Whishaw. Now he’s bringing this witty, gritty, roller coaster to the stage, with a few new stories in the mix.
➤ Wednesday 2 – Monday 28 August. 7.30pm. £15.50/£17.50, £16.50/£14.50 concs. Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ.

Deb Filler: Kravitz, Cohen, Bernstein and Me

Multi-award-winning Canadian comedian Deb Filler pays homage to Yiddish and her mentors in this musical quest to meet The Three Lennys: Kravitz, Cohen and Bernstein. Aided only by a guitar and a raft of captivating characters, Filler tells her (mostly) true story about those empowering influences, and her tales will linger long after curtain down.
➤ Thursday 3 – Sunday 27 August. 7pm (exc. 14 Aug). £15/£16, £14/£15 concs. Assembly Rooms, EH2 2LR.

Ivor Dembina: Old Jewish Jokes & Millwall Jew

Britain’s hardest-working comic celebrates his 10th year at the Fringe. Never content with just one show, Ivor Dembina always brings two with him: his mainstay, Old Jewish Jokes (6pm), and new hour Millwall Jew (2.15pm). The former is the UK’s longest-running Jewish comedy show and is brimming with classic one-liners, while the latter bemoans classically Jewish football team Tottenham Hotspur in favour of the south London comic’s actual favourite team, Millwall FC.
➤ Thursday 3 – Sunday 27 August. 6pm & 2.15pm (exc. Tue). From £5. Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, EH1 1NE.

Noam Shuster Eliassi: Coexistence My A**

Israeli Jewish comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi overshares about her Iranian family, Palestinian best friends and a marriage proposal to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince that went viral. Confused? So is she. See if she can make sense of things in her latest one-woman show.
➤ Thursday 3 – Sunday 27 August. 4pm. From £5. Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, EH1 1NE.

Ay Up, Hitler!

After losing the war, Hitler and his cronies escaped Germany and went into hiding in Yorkshire. What? Not the story as you know it? Gamma Ray Theatre says otherwise, as they reveal the “true” untold tale of Adolf and the lads down the pub in their flat caps and wellies, planning their epic comeback, Operation Fourth Reich. Crass? Maybe. But funny? You betcha!
➤ Friday 4 – Saturday 26 August. 10.15pm (exc. 13 Aug). £12, £10 concs. theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, EH8 9DW.

Liz Toonkel: Magic for Animals

Queer, American, Jewish, animal rights activist and magician rolled into one, Liz Toonkel brings it all to the stage in this flamboyant one-woman show about the agency, consent, sexism and speciesist magic. When not performing, Toonkel is ap roduction designer and recently worked on the Oscar-nominated film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
➤ Friday 4 – Saturday 26 August. 11.25pm (exc. Sun).£12, £10 concs. Greenside @ Infirmary Street, EH1 1LT.

Marlon Solomon: How to Be an Antisemite

Jewish comedian Marlon Solomon is no stranger to discussing his heritage. In his previous hour, Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard's Tale (which he’s also performing this year as part of PBH’s Free Fringe), he spoke about how little it bothered him, until he discovered there were people he knew who didn't believe the Holocaust happened. This year, however, he wants to know why Jews are blamed for everything, from killing Jesus to causing climate change, and what we can do about it.
➤ Friday 4 – Sunday 27 August. 4.20pm (exc. 11 Aug). £12.50/£11.50, £11.50/£10.50 concs. Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, EH1 1HT.

Jew-O-Rama

This Edinburgh regular, created by BuJew (Buddhist Jewish) Aaron Levene and hosted by 2015’s Jewish Comedian of the Year Philip Simon, returns for its fourth stint at the festival. Expect the best in Jewish – and Jew-ish – talent, as the line-up rotates daily. It’s running as part of PBH’s Free Fringe too, so there’s no need to book, simply turn up, take a seat and prepare to hold your sides.
➤ Saturday 5 – Sunday 27 August. 5.15pm. FREE. PBH's Free Fringe @ Whistlebinkies, EH1 1LL.

THEATRE

Anything That We Wanted to Be

Renowned Jewish theatre director and producer Adam Lenson charts his personal journey of discovery, from training to be a doctor to being dealt the devastating news that he has skin cancer. In this life-affirming show, Lenson learns to accept the choices he made, instead of worrying about the ones he didn’t.
➤ Wednesday 2 – Sunday 27 August. 12.30pm. £15, £13 concs. Summerhall, EH9 1PL.

The Death and Life of Us All

Victor Esses is Lebanese-Brazilian, Jewish, gay and, as a result of the Lebanese crisis of 1975, a second-generation refugee. His last show, Where to Belong, tackled the idea of home and identity, and now he returns with a poignant exploration of family shame, centred mainly around his long-lost great-aunt Marcelle, who converted from Judaism to Christianity, changed her name and kept a life-long secret. Listen to our interview with Esses on JR OutLoud.
➤ Wednesday 2 – Sunday 27 August. 11.30am (exc. Mon). £15, £13 concs. Summerhall, EH9 1PL.

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria

On 28 August 1943, the Tsar of Bulgaria, Boris III returned from a meeting with Hitler – at which he’d refused to hand over Bulgarian Jews and send troops to fight alongside the Nazis – and mysteriously died of heart failure. But rumour has it that he was in fact poisoned. In a show that combines history and live folk music, Out of the Forest Theatre presents this entertaining, if little-known, true tale from World War II that resulted in the saving of 50,000 Jewish lives.
➤ Wednesday 2 – Monday 28 August. 5.20pm. £15/£13, £13/£11 concs. Pleasance Dome, EH8 9AL.

Showgirls and Spies

South African Jewish dancer Florence Waren performed at the infamous Parisian cabaret club, Bal Tabarin during World War II. She shared a stage with major icons, including Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker. However, unbeknownst to most, she was also aiding the French Resistance. She hid Jews in her apartment, helped them into safe houses and smuggled supplies and arms to the Resistance. Discover the thrilling double-life of this freedom fighter in a glitzy production written by Rebecca Wilson, a relative of Waren’s, and performed by the Young Pleasance ensemble.
➤ Thursday 3 – Sunday 13 August. 3pm. £12/£14, £11/£13 concs. Pleasance Dome, EH8 9AL.

Wiesenthal

Christopher C Gibbs takes centre stage in Tom Dugan’s play about Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal, who dedicated his life after the war to bringing Nazis to justice. The story takes place in 2003, on the final day he spent at his office in the Documentation Centre of the Association of Jewish Victims of the Nazi Regime in Vienna.
➤ Thursday 3 – Sunday 27 August. 11am (exc. Wed). £12/£13, £11/£12 concs. Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ.

Wasteman

Joe Leather is Jewish, queer and a Bolton-born bin man with dreams of becoming a drag queen. Find out how it all pans out for our flamboyant writer/performer in this raucous one-person play, which is based on Leather’s life and combines monologue, song and drag (obvs). A true love letter to hard-working Northerners and gender euphoria.
➤ Friday 4 – Monday 28 August. 6pm (exc. 17 Aug). £12/£14, £11/£13 concs. Assembly George Square Studios, EH8 9LH.

Two-Gun Cohen: The Improbable True Story

How does a Canadian Jewish immigrant to London’s East End wind up as a General in the Chinese army? Find out in WP Drama’s production about the real-life Morris ‘Two-Gun’ Cohen, who survived both World Wars and tells the story of his life from a cell in a Japanese POW camp in Hong Kong.
➤ Monday 7 – Saturday 12 August. 7.35pm. £9, £5 concs. theSpace on the Mile, EH1 1TH.

MUSIC

An Unwasted Evening: The Genius of Tom Lehrer

Australian entertainer, singer and pianist Antony ‘Dr H’ Hubmayer celebrates the New York satirist, musician and mathematician Tom Lehrer. Born in 1928 to a Jewish family on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Lehrer learnt piano and began writing show tunes at a young age. Alongside his maths career, Lehrer recorded and sold his own music, slowly becoming a cult success as word spread. Radio stations – including the BBC – wouldn’t play his music, given the witty yet controversial subject matter, which included nuclear holocaust, poisoning pigeons and sadomasochism. Dr H’s concert nods to Lehrer’s live album, An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, and will undoubtedly feature numbers from the LP and beyond.
➤ Saturday 5 – Thursday 17 August. Times vary. £13, £10 concs. artSpace@StMarks, EH1 2DP.

David Vernon and Dick Lee

Enjoy a fusion of French, jazz, Jewish, trad, Balkan, tango and more in this accordion (David Vernon) and clarinet (Dick Lee) performance.
➤ Tuesday 8, Friday 11, Tuesday 15 & Thursday 17 August. 3pm. £12. Valvona & Crolla, EH7 4AA.

The Diary of Anne Frank: Her Journey in Music

British composer and instrumentalist Girish Paul presents a multimedia interpretation of The Diary of Anne Frank, as supported by the Anne Frank Fonds in Switzerland. He’ll be accompanied by a virtual orchestra and film scenes featuring actors to tell the story of the young diarist whose life was cut short at 15.
➤ Friday 18 August. 3pm & 7pm. £10, £6 concs. The Old Dr Bells Baths, EH6 5JB.

Opening Fanfare: Scotland Makes Music

Throughout August, the Edinburgh International Festival presents a series of free city-wide events, including this day of music on 5 August. See youth and amateur ensembles perform across three stages in Princes St Gardens, including Musicians in Exile, the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir Oberih, Intercultural Youth Scotland and Tinderbox Collective.
➤ Saturday 5 August. 12-5pm. FREE. Princes Street Gardens, EH2 2HG.

By Danielle Goldstein

Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs Wednesday 2 – Monday 28 August. Visit edfringe.com to browse all of the shows featured.