Because not all great comedians fit neatly into a list.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been pulling together a number of guides full of shows to see at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe including newcomers, telly stars, five-star comedians, musical comedians, sketch shows, theatre shows and charity shows.
But sometimes, the acts I really want to see and really want you to see, don't fit neatly into a themed list. Not letting that stop me, my final list includes nine comedians who don't fit neatly into those categories but are definitely worth adding to your schedule if you're attending the Fringe in August.
In 2021, comedian Brennan Reece ventured up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a greatest hits show, ahead of his fourth hour which he's bringing to the Fringe this year.
During the past few years, Brennan didn’t spend his time off making bread out of bananas or cheering on that old bloke doing laps of his house. He was quite selfishly trying to figure out what role he plays in the grand scheme of it all.
He's always a son, occasionally a comedian but never a human being who is able to connect with others on a one-to-one basis. After finally being allowed to reconnect with human people again, Brennan intends to change all that and is enlisting the help of his audiences.
Crowded promises to be unique each night as Brennan tailors his material to his audience in an effort to help us all finally reconnect once more.
In 2021, comedian Catherine Bohart ventured up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a work-in-progress show. Now, following a successful UK and Ireland tour, she's bringing that same show, her third hour, to the Fringe
As someone who loves control, hates change and is a serial planner, Catherine shares her experience of the last two years, including her mental health rollercoaster through the lockdown.
This Isn't For You promises to be a blisteringly funny show that showcases Catherine's gutsy resilience with unbridled honesty and some horrendous and completely hilarious life advice along the way!
In February 2023, comedian Eshaan Akbar is going out on tour with The Pretender, but before he does so he's testing out new material at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
With three Fringe hours under his belt, Eshaan returned to the Fringe in 2021 with a work-in-progress show and now he's back for just under two weeks with what promises to be an hour of his best bits as well as some new bits.
If his blurb is to be believed, the reason he's doing this is so that he can prove to his agent that he has jokes that are worth touring!
Since debuting her first hour in 2019, comedian Helen Bauer has a string of television credits to her name, including Live at the Apollo and The Stand-Up Sketch Show and now she's returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her second hour.
Madam Good Tit promises to be an hour about self-confidence, self-esteem and self-care. In her new hour, Helen will explore her own self-esteem and experiences with secret eating, reality tv shows and of course her mother being thinner than her.
Like all her friends, Helen is trying to "Be the change she wants to see" - however, like everything else, self-care is a money-making business, filled with influencers that get you when you are down and truly stuck.
Helen grew up watching ‘damaging’ reality diet TV shows that ran the noughties. But was it really worse than what is supposed to help us now?
NHS Doctor and comedian Kwame Asante is returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his first show since 2018 and his third Fringe hour.
Living In Sin promises to be a hilarious, witty and heartfelt introspective on the place of religion in modern life, modern love and modern medicine.
Whether that's the unachievable expectations of African Jesus, the unholy shame of premarital cohabitation or the unwavering healthcare professionals who dare to oppose the will of God.
Since her debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018, comedian Maise Adam has gone on to have a great career and now ahead of a UK tour, she's back with her third hour.
Buzzed promises to be rammed full of witty observations, high-octane energy and some right good jokes. And according to her blurb, Maisie reckons that the show will be better than whatever else you had planned unless you had plans to go dancing with Cher.
In 2021, comedian Rich Wilson ventured up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a work-in-progress show, ahead of his fifth hour which he's bringing to the Fringe this year.
For You Could Have Had It So Much Better, Rich has decided not to fret and fuss in the way other comedians do about finding a theme for their shows and instead, has put all his focus on one thing and that’s being ridiculously funny.
His new hour promises to be full of observationally absurd, blisteringly hot comedy that is guaranteed to make you feel a whole lot better about yourself and the world around you.
After two sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her solo shows, Tessa Coates is returning for a brand new hour, having just opened for Nish Kumar on his latest tour.
Get Your Tessa Coates You’ve Pulled is described as a joyful celebration of life being back with a vengeance and promises to be a smorgasbord of the weird and wonderful.
Tessa will take audiences on a journey across Faberge eggs, the Lascaux cave paintings, being offered ketamine out of a woman's scrunchie in the toilets at a party, a recent diagnosis for ADD, lying about liking opera at a wedding, and how all her 30-something friends have started having babies and don't want to hang out any more.
Comedian Tiff Stevenson has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for over 15 years and now she's back with her tenth hour.
Sexy Brain is born from an out-of-body experience and midlife crisis Tiff had whilst living in Los Angeles in early 2020. It sent her already racing brain into overdrive and after self-diagnosing herself with ADHD, she decided she didn’t need a doctor to diagnose what she has, which is a very SEXY BRAIN!
It promises to be a study in trying to see all sides of every argument and driving yourself slowly mad in the process as Tiff goes in depth to explore the modern conundrums that keep us awake at night.