Jason Manford too

John Bishop to play this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

He will perform 14 shows in the 278-seater Cow Barn, a decidedly lower-key affair than his last full Fringe run in the 1,000-capacity McEwan Hall in 2010.

Bishop will be performing previews of his Winging It autumn tour from August 12 to 25.

Jason Manford is also returning to Edinburgh for a week of ‘work in progress’ shows ahead of his 2018 tour Muddle Class, which was announced yesterday. He will be at the Fringe from August 14 to 20.

The stars are among the first shows announced by Underbelly this morning.

They also include the return of Jess Robinson, as seen on Britain’s Got Talent this weekend, and improv hit Austentatious. Cast members Graham Dickson and Daniel Nils Roberts also have solo shows at the festival.

Indian stand-up Aditi Mittal also appears in Edinburgh for the first time with her show Global Village Idiot and anarchic American-Norwegian double act Zach & Viggo return with a new show, with each also making their solo debut. 

Acclaimed Australian act Laura Davis makes her debut, with fellow antipodeans Otto & Astrid, aka Die Roten Punkte, Steen Raskopoulos, Nick Cody and Rhys Nicholson also returning. 

Paul Foot, Storage Hunters auctioneer Sean Kelly, Shit-Faced Shakespeare and John Robertson’s The Dark Room are also among today's announcement.

These shows go on sale tomorrow, with the rest of the programme to follow on May 11. There will be more than 150 shows across four venues: George Square Gardens, Circus Hub on the Meadows, Underbelly Med Quad and Cowgate 

Bishop also appeared in Edinburgh during the 2014 Fringe, doing two weeks of work-in-progress gigs at The Stand which were not listed in the official Fringe programme.

Published: 19 Apr 2017