Stand-up comedian Friz Frizzle – real name Stephen Frizzle – performed their Edinburgh Fringe Festival show blind, taking to the stage just four hours after undergoing emergency eye surgery. The musical comedy star, who presents two shows at the event, is suffering from various health complications due to diabetes.
Vision loss and surgery
The star, who uses they/them pronouns, first underwent surgery to save the sight in their right eye in May 2026, while their left eye was already “completely useless”. They told Chortle: “My left eye is completely useless, but the doctors told me that a vitrectomy on my right eye was the best chance to save what vision I had left, so they did that in May.
“Unsurprisingly, it takes a while to recover your vision after you have had a knife in your eye, but my two partners helped me through it, and I even managed to do a few gigs while still blind.”
Emergency at the Fringe
By mid-July they were mostly healed – but on Friday (August 7), they woke up at their Edinburgh accommodation completely unable to see and was rushed to hospital. They said: “The staff at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh were fantastic, and got me seen by an eye specialist the same day.”
They were diagnosed with a bleed in one eye and rushed for surgery, and was able to perform their show four hours later “still in hospital pyjamas”. Doctors have said Friz will regain vision in their right eye eventually, but not before the end of the Fringe festival.
Previous health struggles
Last year’s event wasn’t easy either, as the star – who plays piano – lost a finger to a blood infection and gangrene just two weeks before their performances were set to begin. They also suffer from mobility impairment and dexterity problems due to diabetes.
