Gilded Balloon add more Edinburgh Fringe 2018 shows

Gilded Balloon have added 70 shows to their roster of events for this year’s Fringe (for previous announcements, head here). One of the highlights of these latest programme details are the brilliant Hot Brown Honey, who were one of the stars of last year’s Fringe and will again be bringing sass and empowerment to Edinburgh, with their effervescent show heading to Gilded Balloon’s flagship venue the Debating Hall throughout the Fringe. “We cannot wait to host the Honeys in our biggest venue," say Katy and Karen Koren, directors of Gilded Balloon, while also teasing more exciting stuff still to be announced: "We still have a few surprises up our sleeves… there’s definitely more to come!,” they say.

In terms of comedy announced today, Dead Ringers’ impressionists Jon Culshaw and Bill Dare will be back in Edinburgh to send up politicians and celebrities during an unscripted, spontaneous hour; American star Janeane Garofalo returns to the Fringe for the first time in five years, while talent from closer to home includes Jay Lafferty, Rosco McClelland, Kevin Quantum, Fred MacAulay and Scot Squad’s Chris Forbes.

Festival stalwarts like Tom Stade, Micky Bartlett and Kai Humphries are also part of the line-up with mint fresh material, and there are some Fringe greenhorns in Gilded Balloon's programme too. Among them are legendary New York City drag king Murray Hill; Chappelle’s Show star Christian Finnegan (he played the one white roommate in the show's 'Mad Real World' sketches); and Christopher MacArthur-Boyd, a member of the Glasgow sketch group SCRAM who has been dubbed by GB as “the future of Scottish stand-up”.

The stage line-up is similarly winning. Playwright and satirist Henry Naylor premieres Games, which explores the real-life plight of Helene Mayer, the only Jewish athlete on the Nazi team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. More lighthearted we suspect will be Maggie Thatcher, Queen of Club Nights, which sees the former Tory leader delivers nonstop 80s hits. And there’s magic from Ben Hart, who returns to Gilded Balloon with a show that’s described as “a piece that promises to examine the darkest corners of your imagination, the universe, and existence itself.” There’s also late night cabaret shenanigans in store from Gingzilla, who’s back with more excessive midnight madness in the form of the infamous Late Night Lip Service.

For the full Gilded Balloon lineup, head to gildedballoon.co.uk