With the Edinburgh Fringe nearly over, the nominees for the most coveted prize in UK comedy have been chosen. Reviews of all six performers nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards best show, performed 26-28 August, 2026, are below, ahead of the gala on Saturday.
Li Jin Hao: Falling From a Moon
Above at Pleasance Courtyard. A large model moon/sun hangs above the stage, beautifully illuminated at different points throughout the show, with no cause for concern about needing eclipse glasses. The sun and moon are part of the symbolism Li Jin Hao - born in China, brought up in Singapore, now living in the UK - returns to throughout the show: the flick between then and now, being here or there.
The more philosophical or poetically minded may appreciate these bigger themes, but the laughs come from the smaller subjects: the cute whimsy and surrealism of the everyday, well crafted and confidently performed. ★★★½☆
Chris Cantrill: Rewilding
Monkey Barrel Comedy at O'Neill's (The Tron). Chris Cantrill is up for best show for the second time as a solo performer, having previously been nominated twice for The Delightful Sausage, his double act with Amy Gledhill. More recently he has worked as a SNL UK writer - but he won't be talking about that, besides the fact he has been welcomed into the young girls and gays group on the team by 'always having a charged power bank'.
In Rewilding, he talks about ageing into his 40s, willingly shedding his now tediously middle-aged friends, and the characters he encounters living in a remote rural village where people take matters into their own hands. He eventually shares what he found when he investigated an act of vandalism within the community. This doesn't really offer the show the climax that the early laughs had started building to, which would be especially suited to fans of Sophie Willan or Lucy Beaumont's brand of humour. This shaggy-dog story is part Tim Robinson's Friendship, part Chris the sheep in Father Ted - lite. ★★★☆☆
Dan Tiernan: Quartz and All
Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 1. Dan Tiernan berates a family unwittingly sitting in the front row who are yet to break into laughter. "They've not seen me before - they think I'm going to leave it there," he says gleefully. He continues to return to them, sometimes uncomfortably to the detriment of the rhythm of the show, so clearly is it irking him that he is getting big laughs from most of the room but not the three people out of the corner of his eye.
It is not unreasonable that not everyone will get on board with Dan Tiernan's performance style. He is intense and leans into the madness more often than not. A tiresome number of jokes cheaply come back to paedophilia or cock-sucking (or both), while others are delivered through plain old shouting. It belies the strength of some genuinely top rate gags elsewhere in the set. The show's title, Quartz and All, refers to a new-found interest in healing crystals, which aren't really discussed for comic effect most times, nor is there any real narrative arc they're used for. The joke that the rock in his hand is to keep him calm is played out long before he mimics both attacking a crowd member with it and, obviously, having sex with it. He clearly has an audience and you can understand why, if this is your thing. Seemingly a number of them are on the awards judging panel. ★★½☆☆
Lara Ricote: INKLING
Monkey Barrel Comedy - Monkey Barrel 3. 'INKLING is a show about How to Salute to the Mystery of Being Alive' which begins with a story from Greek mythology, with Delphic maxims hung up on signs on stage, and further signs around the room denoting the three acts. There's obviously a lot of thought behind the concept and Lara Ricote seems to enjoy it immensely. Perhaps more than most watching. But that's okay, watching her enjoyment is joyful in itself.
There's such a variety in her performance and staging, this storytelling has single-hander play in mind as much as stand-up. Does it stand on its own feet as a comedy in terms of solid laughs? That will probably split opinion, but you certainly want it to. ★★★☆☆
Five-Star Comedy Reviews at Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Andy Beill's pick of the best comedy shows at this year's Edinburgh Fringe: Ed Night: We'll Be Alright, Darling; Harriet Richardson: Creep; Jonno: Here Comes Mr Funny; Freddie Meredith: Need a Light?; Marty Gleeson - Dog Ear; Rob Auton: JUPITER.
The following reviews are courtesy of Bruce Dessau (beyondthejoke.co.uk):
Spencer Jones – Dogs
Queen Dome at Pleasance Dome. Every great artist needs a muse. For Spencer Jones his muse is a Chihuahua Jack Russell cross which he acquired four years ago. Just as the kids are more independent a whole new world of responsibility opened up. But also a whole new world of creative possibility. The result is the brilliant show Dogs. So good I barely have a bone to pick with it.
While the emphasis is very much on absurdist D-I-Y surrealism in the creative spirit of Vic Reeves, Boosh and Harry Hill there is a huge amount of heart here too. At one point I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my seat, but at the end, when he ties everything together in a song, I was almost in tears. There aren't many shows that can do both of those things to me. ★★★★★
Harriet Dyer: Easily Distra...
Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) - CabVol 2. Harriet Dyer is one of the rising stars at this year's Fringe. Later this year she will be appearing on Last One Laughing. In the wild onstage she is a total one-off. Her show, Easily Distra... is about how she gets easily distracted. Or at least it would be if only she could stick to a single subject. The person she reminds me most of is Ross Noble. I don't know how much of the show I saw is scripted, but even her tangents go off at tangents. Fortunately most of what comes out of her mouth is hilarious, whether it's wondering why there are so many moths in the room, talking about getting a cow to lick her boyfriend's head to cure his baldness or growing up in Cornwall and finding herself saying "shiver me timbers." She can be a bit Su-Pollard-on-acid at times, but I could have listened to her till the head-licking cows came home. ★★★★☆
