BEST OF THE FRINGE 2026: James’ picks
Another Edinburgh Fringe is now over, and after a very full few weeks of seeing as much theatre as humanly possible, it is time to attempt the rather impossible task of choosing my favourite shows of the festival.
I tend to gravitate towards new work at the Fringe. I love finding something that feels like a genuine discovery, particularly when you can see the potential of a company or performer before everyone else catches on. This year, however, a few more established names reminded me that sometimes there is a reason shows return year after year.
So, in no particular order of how much I enjoyed them, because narrowing this down to five was difficult enough, here are my five standout shows of the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, alongside three honourable mentions.
Honourable Mentions:
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
It took me considerably longer than it should have to finally see Showstopper!. After years of hearing about it, I eventually made it along this Fringe and immediately understood why it has developed such a loyal following.
The premise is deceptively simple: the audience provides the ingredients and the company creates an entirely new musical in front of you. What makes it so impressive is the skill required to make that look as spontaneous as it feels. The performers, musicians and Adam Meggido, who steers the whole thing, have clearly developed an extraordinary understanding of how to build a musical together in real time.
Our show involved an elderly coach trip, Hamilton, Rent and Sweet Charity, and was eventually titled The Denture Adventure. It had everything from love and loss to waffles and lesbians, and somehow it all made sense.
I may have arrived at the party 18 years late, but I am very glad I finally got there.
Low Fat Productions' Spraywatch was another Fringe discovery that I really hope gets the opportunity to grow.
What initially sounds like a straightforward parody actually has a surprisingly strong musical underneath it, with some genuinely excellent original songs and a cast who completely understand the tone of the piece. Izabella Webb, Jamie Knapper, Abbie Ashall, Ant McGinley and Natalie Hayes all bring something different to the ensemble, and the decision to place the story in a fictional British seaside town gives the production a personality of its own.
There are certainly things I would tighten and develop, but that's part of what made it exciting. You could see the potential of this becoming something much bigger with further work.
Crudi Dench: Someone Help Her!
Crudi Dench has become one of my favourite Fringe performers, so their solo debut was always going to be on my list.
What I particularly enjoy about Crudi is the complete lack of fear when it comes to a joke. They can hold a moment for an almost uncomfortable amount of time and somehow make that the funniest part of it. Someone Help Her! uses a fictional television call-in format to create a wonderfully chaotic hour, with the audience becoming part of Crudi's celebrity world.
Underneath all of that is a surprisingly heartfelt exploration of burnout and the pressure of constantly performing for other people.
Crudi is already a Fringe favourite, and this show feels like another step in establishing exactly what makes their work so distinctive.
5. Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella
Awkward Productions have become one of those companies whose work I look forward to seeing at the Fringe every year. There is a very particular style to what they do, and watching that style develop has been one of the pleasures of returning to Edinburgh.
Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella tells the story of Linus being assaulted in Soho, but uses their trademark deadpan comedy and theatricality to explore something much more serious underneath: queer hate crime, trauma, recovery and finding a way to move forward.
Linus is an extraordinary storyteller. Despite the subject matter, the show never loses its energy, and the combination of humour and vulnerability makes the experience incredibly engaging.
What I love most about Awkward Productions is that they never seem afraid to make something that could only be theirs. This is another very queer, very funny and ultimately very positive piece of Fringe theatre.
And after all the Soho Theatre promotion they get in this show, I really do think they should programme it.
Read our 5 star review of Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella here.
4. Sinatra: One Last Shot
I have been a fan of swing music for most of my life, and I have seen enough Sinatra tributes to know that getting Frank Sinatra right is considerably harder than putting on a dinner jacket and singing My Way.
Richard Shelton gets it.
Photo credit: Vern Evans
Having previously seen Shelton's work, I was particularly interested in Sinatra: One Last Shot, which explores a later period in Sinatra's life as he deals with retirement, the loss of his place at the centre of popular culture and the temptation to return to the spotlight.
The production is remarkably simple, but Shelton doesn't need much more than a microphone, a stool and an audience. They capture Sinatra's voice and mannerisms beautifully, but it is the phrasing and musical understanding that really makes the performance work.
There are plenty of familiar songs, alongside some less expected choices — including Sinatra's recording of Send in the Clowns, which was a particularly welcome moment for this musical-theatre fan.
We've seen Sinatra shows with considerably larger budgets and left disappointed. This was the opposite.
Thank you, Richard Shelton, for slaying the room.
Read our 5 star review of Sinatra: One Last Shot here.
3. KEVIN!!!!!
Recent Cutbacks have become one of my favourite companies to discover over the last couple of years.
Their approach to theatre is wonderfully simple: take an enormous, well-known film and work out how to recreate it live without anything remotely approaching a Hollywood budget.
Last year it was Jurassic Park with Hold On To Your Butts. This year, KEVIN!!!!! takes on Home Alone using puppets, miniature sets, live cameras, blue screens, Foley and a group of performers who barely seem to stop moving.
The cleverest part is how easy they make it look. It feels like the performers are simply playing, but the precision required to operate the cameras, manipulate the sets, create the characters and tell the story simultaneously is genuinely impressive.
Recent Cutbacks have developed a very recognisable theatrical style, and KEVIN!!!!! demonstrates just how much further they can take it.
They are rapidly becoming one of those companies where I want to see whatever they decide to tackle next.
Read our 5 star review of KEVIN!!!!! here.
2. Acid's Reign
Acid's Reign was one of the biggest surprises of my Fringe.
On paper, a musical about drag performers attempting to save the planet could sound like it might become worthy very quickly. Instead, this is a confident, funny and extremely queer piece of musical theatre that manages to tackle climate activism, commercialism, ambition and artistic integrity without losing sight of its entertainment value.
The ensemble is excellent, with Victoria Scone, Scarlett Harlett, Gigi Zahir, Sé Carr, Jamie Fuxx and Ash Weir all bringing something distinctive to the show.
It also happens to be one of the strongest showcases of drag performers in musical theatre I have seen at the Fringe, with some seriously impressive vocals throughout.
What stayed with me most was how much the show has underneath the camp exterior. It asks some genuinely interesting questions about what happens when a cause stops being fashionable, when funding disappears and when the commercial opportunity becomes more attractive than the reason you started in the first place.
It is ambitious, funny, political and very entertaining.
And, for me, one of the standout musicals of this year's Fringe.
Photo credit: Natalie Powers
1. The Real Kyle McCarren
Some shows you book months in advance because you know the name, the marketing is everywhere and everyone is telling you that you need to see them.
And then there are the shows you only book because someone you trust tells you, “You have to see this.”
The Real Kyle McCarren was that show for me.
Andy Roninson's musical tells the story of the death of his real-life friend Kyle McCarren, with Roninson playing himself and Sean McVerry playing Kyle. It is a deeply personal story about friendship and grief, but what makes the show so effective is that it never feels as though it is trying to manufacture an emotional response.
Roninson is an instantly likeable performer and an excellent pianist, while McVerry is equally impressive both as an actor and musician. The supporting cast are fantastic too, with Vincent Jamal Hooper bringing enormous charisma and an astonishing voice, Jaygee Macapugay finding both comedy and heartbreak as Kyle's mother, and Sarah Coffey delivering a beautiful performance, particularly in The Last Snow.
The songs are genuinely memorable, and the whole production has a lovely sense of ease about it. Nothing feels overworked or overly dramatic. Instead, the show gradually allows us to understand what Kyle meant to Andy and what losing someone actually looks like after everyone else has gone home and life simply has to continue.
There is no neat solution to grief here. No attempt to tell us exactly how we should feel. It is simply about getting through one day and then getting through the next.
Andy Roninson is a hugely talented composer, pianist and storyteller, and I genuinely hope this is only the beginning of what he goes on to create.
For me, The Real Kyle McCarren is the breakout musical of the 2026 Fringe. And if you haven't heard of it yet, remember the name.
Read our 5 star review of The Real Kyle McCarren here.
So there we have it. Five shows that, for very different reasons, reminded me why the Edinburgh Fringe remains one of the most exciting places to discover theatre.
Some were established companies finally getting the attention they deserve, others were performers taking their next step, and some were completely new discoveries that I suspect we will be hearing much more about.
That, for me, is what the Fringe is supposed to be about.
See you next year, Besties!
