‘If you’d done that in the 90s, you’d be torn to shreds!’: comedy icons share their Edinburgh fringe survival tips with first-timers

How do you deal with nerves or bad reviews? What if you don’t sell any tickets? For debutants, the list of potential worries is huge. So we paired a few up with veterans to talk past mistakes, coping strategies – and the odd celebrity encounter

• Binge on the fringe: the must-see shows at Edinburgh 2026

• Explore the rest of our coverage of the Edinburgh festival 2026

Everyone has to start somewhere – even at the Edinburgh festival fringe. But what made Smack the Pony actor Fiona Allen take up standup in her 50s? Why is veteran TV entertainer Joe Pasquale making his fringe debut in his 60s in an ensemble comic play? How many taboos will newcomer Sepideh Kaav, a Berlin-based Iranian comic in her early 30s, break by talking about sex? And what will the 78-year-old, seven-time Edinburgh veteran Gyles Brandreth make of debutant Brandy Bex, a 50-year-old NHS nurse performing in drag? We paired six fringe stalwarts with relative newcomers to compare their hopes, fears and survival tactics for this year.