Edinburgh Fringe 2nd/3rd Aug - what to see?

[whatwasthatnoise]

I'll be in Edinburgh the first weekend of August, arriving Saturday lunchtime, leaving Monday morning. Accommodationia sorted. I might have the chance of going to see something at the Fringe. I've never been before and have no idea where to start to decide if / what I might like to see with my friend or what genre.
Any suggestions? Or should I not bother?

What sort of thing are you into?
There is literally everything there!

300 Paintings at Summerhall was great last year, I might even go again!
300 Paintings - Summerhall Arts

At the same venue I saw this in London, very entertaining esp if you have a lazy dh 😁really quite mad and different!
Clean Slate - Summerhall Arts

I am planning to go to this at Gilded Balloon as have heard good things about it from others who have seen
Gilded Balloon

we saw this lot last year who won best sketch show from Leeds uni, hilarious
EdFest.com | EdFest.com

Some shows will have half price tickets early in their run - to get bums on seats when the reviewers come in. Get the Fringe app - you can filter by genre/ day/ location.
I'd pick a general location for a half day then see what's on there, otherwise you have too much choice and could find yourself having to rush between venues. Loads at George Sq or Pleasance - pick one and stay there for half the day. The book festival is free with paid for talks and usually a more relaxed vibe.
The National Museum of Scotland is free and worth a look generally, great option if it's raining!
Main thing is to decide on genre then filter by that. Or just made a random choice based on what's got tickets nearby or what poster takes your fancy.
Loads of food options - cheapest is a supermarket sandwich in George Sq, all the food trucks are v pricey but tasty.
Enjoy!

Of course you should bother, but with 3,500 shows on over a three week period (which hasn’t started yet) then no-one here can really tell you what to go and see. Download the Fringe app, filter for a genre you like and follow @CinnamonCinnabar’s advice on location (which you can also filter on) and take it from there. You can also filter on ‘shows near me now’ on the actual day.

Book Festival is great but won’t have started when you’re there.

Yes one venue is a good idea I agree, and just moseying up and down the Royal Mile for a bit and chatting to people about their shows, that's how we ended up at the Leeds sketch show!

It's a bit like Glastonbury in that there is way too much to do so you just have to take a leap, esp that early as there won't be many reviews. Or look for stuff that has been before or has had previews and read those reviews.

One other thing to note, if you like the look of something and it has a "keep it fringe" logo on the poster this means that the show has received funding from the Keep it Fringe fund (set up by Phoebe Waller Bridge after Covid to support people to come to fringe) so it means that the show has been reviewed and awarded funding

Keep it Fringe fund 2025 now open for applications | Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Make sure to post your own reviews on here, we are going later in August and always like recommendations

We planned by choosing things we were interested in and mixed it up with one paid, in a theatre venue, added a couple that were free/donations and then wandered and enjoyed to street shows and outside venues for drinks. ( outside the uni).

It depends what you like! There is literally everything.

Seen anything good yet? Am booking up stuff today!

We went to Edinburgh today! (Travelled from Newcastle - so just for one (long...) day).
We took several of your recommendations @OldieButBaddie, and we saw '300 paintings' (at Summerhall, about 12.10pm I think), 'The Leeds Tealights' (at the caves, 4.50pm), and finally Matt Parker (at the Pleasance, 6.50pm). All were great - but our favourite was the Leeds Tealights. Just kept us laughing, and I'm sure we'll be referring back to some of the funniest moments for a time to come. And the energy and warmth was infectious!

Oh brilliant, we just got chatting to the on the Royal Mile last year and they lured us in, while we were there they got the best student sketch show award! I thought they were great, glad to hear still so good!

I noticed today on Instagram that the interactive one (Clean Slate) I saw in London won best show in the festival, so I feel vindicated in my review! It was head and shoulders the best thing I saw there!
Instagram

You could also support RSC students (past and present) who perform every year at the fringe.
https://www.rcs.ac.uk/rcs-community-edinburgh-fringe/

Completely agree the best thing to do at the Fringe is just pick any random venue and just go and see everything that is there.

You will see some brilliant/hilarious things, some naff things and some bizarre things. You will never forget it. Loved the Fringe the one time I went!

I have been told about this

Home - Merv's Pick of the Fringe

He has a team who go round and watch loads of shows, then every day they put on 7 x 5 minute snippets with an interview afterwards, gives you a chance to see stuff they think is good and decide whether to go and see it. Apparently it has been going for years - what a great idea! I am going to book to see it on my first day.

Toxic femininity