Gilded Balloon announce first acts for Fringe 2018

Gilded Balloon have announced their first wave of acts for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, with a pleasing mix of established names and emerging talent in the lineup.

Luisa Omielan brings her brand new show Politics for Bitches – presumably based on her BBC Three series of the same name, which she describes as “part sexy Question Time, part documentary and part comedy gig”. She’ll be headlining Gilded Balloon’s biggest venue, the Debating Hall, with this show which we hope will be a sharp take on the state of modern politics.

After a six year break from stand-up, Welsh comic Rhod Gilbert is back with a series of exclusive ‘work-in-very-very-early-progress’ shows. And if you have been paying attention to the news since his last show, you’ll know he’s got plenty of material to work with. “The world’s gone totally mad since I last toured in 2012,” says Gilbert, “and my head’s all over the shop. It’s time to get back up there [to] sort it out once and for all!”

Other big names heading to Gilded Balloon include Zoe Lyons with her new show Entry Level Human; Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy award-winners The Travelling Sisters, who’ll be making the trek to Edinburgh from Brisbane; and Robin Ince and Mark Thompson head to Gilded Balloon at the Museum for solo shows that promise to fuse comedy and science.

Reigning So You Think You’re Funny? champion Maisie Adam will be heading to the Gilded Balloon as well with debut solo hour Vague, which we’re told is “a show all about navigating the recklessness of youth whilst suffering from a condition that requires her to be a ‘Sensible Susan’.”

Fringe institutions Late’n’Live and Set-List: Stand-Up without a Net also return, along with festival favourites like The Noise Next Door, Notflix and the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, who each bring new and presumably hilarious shows to this year’s festival

Gilded Balloon directors Katy and Karen Koren are the duo responsible for putting this lineup together. “We’ve been working hard to put together a stellar programme for 2018,” they say, “and we’re so excited that Luisa Omielan, Rhod Gilbert and many more incredible acts will be performing at the Gilded Balloon this Fringe – we cannot wait to reveal what other surprises we have in store!”

The 2018 Edinburgh Fringe runs 3-27 Aug. Watch this space for more Fringe announcements