'Scotland’s Best Comedy Venue’ since 2020 (Chortle Awards) and described as “a year-round Edinburgh institution” (The List), the club was home to both of 2022's Edinburgh Comedy Awards winners, Best Comedy Show 2023 and Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer 2024. 

"Down there at the Monkey Barrel, there’s something in the water, and I can't stop drinking it!" (Sam Campbell)
“What a comedy club you’ve got there, Edinburgh!” (Kevin Bridges)

A new show from 'one of the most naturally gifted stand-ups around' (TheWeeReview.com) about the things that keep us awake at night. Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award nominee (2024) and named in The List’s Hot 100 (2024), Susan regularly provides tour support for Fern Brady and Larry Dean, as well as Lucy Beaumont, Adam Kay and Ardal O’Hanlon. 'Big laughs… very clever set-ups… a brilliant talent' **** (BroadwayWorld.com). 'Entirely at ease on stage' **** (One4Review.co.uk). 'Her style so instinctively conversational that it barely feels rehearsed' **** (TheWeeReview.com).

Susan Riddell: How Do You Sleep at Night?

A new stand-up hour from '...a rare gem of a comic' (Rolling Stone), about the highs and lows of pursuing your lifelong passion and just loving a laugh. Don’t you just love a laugh? If you’ve ever had a lifelong passion, a dream or a career you’ve strived for and maybe failed (or are currently failing) at, this is the show for you. ***** (EdFringeReview.com). Host of hit podcast I’ve Had A Rosé, Let’s Talk About Feelings. As seen on U&Dave’s The Comedy Guide to Life and BBC Scotland’s Breaking The News.

Sam Lake: You're Joking!? Not Another One!

Everyone’s dealt with it: first, a bad breakup; then, become a puffin island caretaker; suddenly, you’re implicated in a puffin murder. A classic. You know how it goes. A vibe shift for acclaimed comedian Stuart Laws. ****½ (Chortle.co.uk). Stand-up comedy/theatre hybrid. Praise for his previous theatrical work: 'I left this show with the chills and feeling just a bit shaken' (MumbleTheatre.uk). 'It is really smart stuff, elegantly exposing hypocrisy' (Stage). 'Fantastically funny' (EdFestMag.com). 'One of the most skilled and likeable comics... a deliciously joke-dense show' (Scotsman).


Stuart Laws Is Stuck

'Laws is one of the most skilled and likeable comics on the circuit' (Scotsman) and 'echoes the late, great Sean Lock' (BeyondTheJoke.co.uk). Watch him do an hour of comedy. If you’ve made it this far you should know this will be free-wheeling, big chunks improvised, some old classics – basically changing every time and a chance for Stuart to not worry about structural callbacks and messages. 'You'll struggle to find a comedian with a better jokes per minute rate... like a one-man episode of Arrested Development' (Fest).


Stuart Laws Does Stand-up Comedy for an Hour

Oliver Coleman was nominated for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2024. He’s back at Fringe with his best show yet! Pointed observational comedy combined with absurd flights of fancy in a show that is profound and profane, personal and totally absurd. No one else is doing stand-up like Coleman – a rollercoaster of outrageous theatrics, off-the-rails improvising and elegant writing. He searches for meaning in the minutiae of life, creating a show that is silly, beautiful and a helluva lotta fun. 'I love you' (Oliver Coleman). 

Oliver Coleman: The Ballad of Oliver Coleman

Edinburgh's Gareth Waugh returns to the Fringe after getting married, having another baby and writing a BBC Radio 4 show... frankly it's all been too much. Expect notebooks and material inappropriate for this time of day. Tour support for Daniel Sloss, Kathryn Ryan, John Bishop, Jammali Maddix. 'Effortless, hugely personable comedy' (List). 'Impressive comic chops... engaging, friendly onstage manner... Very funny' (BeyondTheJoke.co.uk). 'Plenty of laughs... cements Waugh as one of Edinburgh's most likeable performers' (TheWeeReview.com). 'Loads and loads of laughs' ***** (One4Review.co.uk). 'This is proper stand-up... Excellent!' (BroadwayBaby.com). 'Smart, witty... very funny!' (Scotsman).

Gareth Waugh – Waugh In Progress (WIP)

BAFTA nominee and star of Extraordinary, Luke Rollason presents an experiment that will change live performance forever, and two more experiments that are also okay. 'Delightfully daft' **** (Daily Mail). 'Utterly delightful' **** (Telegraph). 'Gut-bustingly funny' **** (List). 'Hilarious and mesmerising' **** (Chortle.co.uk). 'Hugely entertaining' ***** (EdFestMag.com).

Luke Rollason: Experiments in Performance Vols 1-3

Join the hilarious diva Sikisa for Serving Justice – a bold, thought-provoking hour exploring truth, identity, and what justice looks like in love and life. She dives into her love of wrestling, the pressure to have kids, and the realities of the immigration system – with a twist. As seen on Live at the Apollo and Off Menu. Host of WrestleClub UK podcast. Top 4 of Dave’s Joke of the Fringe 2023. Tour support for Judi Love, Michael Che, Ed Gamble and Catherine Cohen. ***** (BroadwayWorldcom). ‘Uproariously hilarious’ **** (Scotsman). **** ‘An irresistible force of nature’ (BeyondTheJoke.co.uk).

Sikisa: Serving Justice

This 'young and gifted' **** (Scotsman) comic is back with an 'impressively accomplished and infectiously funny' **** (Skinny) hour, after an award-nominated, sell-out debut. With more fevered tales of how this political refugee is trying to get rich outside the corporate rat race, without losing his flat, or worse, disappointing his mother. 'A fearless comedian on the rise' (Daniel Kaluuya). 'Impressive' (Guardian). 'The circuit might just have created another Jimmy Carr' **** (Chortle.co.uk). **** (Fest Mag).

Tadiwa Mahlunge: Hakuna Ma Tad Tad

Irish comedian Katie Boyle brings her newest stand-up, a uniquely personal dark comedy, to Edinburgh. It's about living in America, Catholic shame, St Brigid, cutting off a parent and somehow all connected to abortion.

Katie Boyle: Roe v. Wade versus Katie

After a successful show in 2023 at Monkey Barrel Comedy, Debut, Stu Murphy is returning with a brand-new stand-up show, Little Earthquakes. This show recounts navigating life while being unremittingly single in a world which no longer sees Stu as desirable. Aside from his stand-up and compere work, he also performs with The Spontaneous Players, Steve Frost's Improv All Stars and with the Comedy Store Players. He's also one half of Stu & Garry's Improv Show at the Stand Comedy Club. Stu is also a host on the podcast Stu & Joe's Big Dumb Film Show.

Stuart Murphy: Little Earthquakes

A Canadian who sold everything to move to the UK and do comedy is here to make you laugh, as she will be deported if you don’t. Join Kate as she recounts navigating the visa process, getting dominated on Vinted and discovering her sexuality through The Magic School Bus. As seen on Breaking the News, BBC Scotland and Roast Battle League. 'A full package, all tools comedian... It is impossible not to vibe with Hammer' (Comedy.co.uk). ‘Frenetic and clownishly graphic’ (Chortle.co.uk). ‘Dynamic and charismatic’ (BroadwayWorld.com).

Kate Hammer: Government Approved Comedian

Ay up, it's me (the comedian) Adam. Come on, I'm not paying someone to write this. I've got a new stand-up show about a great big fat night out. Expect punchlines punctuated by rave music. 'A keen comedy voice who has found the equilibrium between daft and confessional' (British Comedy Guide). 'Despicably multi talented' (Ivo Graham). Top 3 Rising Stars of the Fringe (Times). Top Picks of The Fringe (British Comedy Guide). ***** (TheRealChrisparkle.com). **** (Mervyn Stutter's Pick of The Fringe). **** (EdFringeReview.com). **** (BroadwayWorld.com).

Adam Flood: A Day in the Life of a Night

After bursting on to the comedy scene with his razor-sharp wit and a string of viral videos, Josh Baulf brings to Edinburgh a work in progress of his debut tour! Described by Rob Beckett as a comedian 'you have to see live' and hailed by David Walliams as 'a very funny man', Josh delves into the hilarities of millennial life, navigating modern relationships and the quirks of British culture. Appeared on ITV and BBC. 'Laugh out loud funny' ***** (One4Review.co.uk). 'A comedian who will make good on his enormous promise' ***** (ThreeWeeks).

Josh Baulf: Lovely Stuff (WIP)

Eleanor Morton presents a brand-new work in progress show for three days only, all about her fascination with mermaids and their allure to men over the centuries. Praise for last year's award-winning hit show, Haunted House: ‘This hour is truly a masterful construction’ **** (PepperAndSalt.uk). **** (Skinny). ‘Belly laugh funny’ ****½ (Metro). **** (BeyondTheJoke.co.uk). **** (EdFestMag.com).

Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Tron)

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