Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Best comedy shows, from Johnny Vegas to Katherine Ryan

Also including Trevor Noah, Aisling Bea, Bridget Christie, Max and Ivan and Nina Conti

Johnny Vegas; Idil Sukan says a good shot can be a valuable, lasting, calling card for a performer (Idil Sukan)

Johnny Vegas

A rare Fringe outing for the anarchic Northerner who tops a very starry bill to celebrate 30 years of the much-loved venue The Gilded Balloon. Alan Davies, Stephen K Amos, Sean Hughes, Tommy Tiernan and Greg McHugh are also slated to appear with more surprise guests surely waiting in the wings.

15 August, Gilded Balloon

Trevor Noah

Rising star: South African comedian Trevor Noah (EPA)

Set to take the seat as the host of The Daily Show at the end of September, Trevor Noah is squeezing in three nights at the festival where his show The Racist was such a big hit in a tiny room back in 2012. Expect up-to-the-minute satire, delivered with a laid-back charm.

28 to 30 August, Assembly Hall

Fringe guide:
Best in Theatre, from Fake It ‘till You Make It to Murmel Murmel
Best performances from Sylvie Guillem to Correction
Best music, books and Art, from The Flaming Lips to Val McDermid with Nicola Sturgeon

Aisling Bea

Aisling Bea (Karla Gowlett)

The Irish livewire has had a stellar rise since she was nominated as Best Newcomer at the Fringe in 2013. Since then she has won the British Comedy Award for Best Female Comic, starred in The Delivery Man and Trollied and fronted C4’s Alternative Election coverage alongside David Mitchell and Jeremy Paxman. This is a great chance to see her lively, inclusive comedy up close – before she starts on the arenas.

5 to 30 August, Gilded Balloon

Bridget Christie

Comedienne Bridget Christie talks about being a female stand up

Wake up! A morning with Bridget Christie at The Stand is fast becoming a Fringe staple. This year, the stand-up is hoping to continue her blazing run of her form with a show about Nigel Farage, Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner, among other zeitgeisty things. The comedy will be followed by a 10-minute signing of her new book, A Book For Her.

8 to 31 August, The Stand

Max and Ivan

Max and Ivan: The Reunion

Their last Fringe outing, The Reunion, was a blast of feelgood fun, which was nominated for the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award. Their new show, The End, will see the sketch duo – you’ll recognise them as the mute guys in W1A - once again play a multitude of characters, this time in a village at the end of the world.

5 to 30 August, Pleasance Dome

Nina Conti

Nina Conti and friends (BBC)

A true one-off on the scene, Nina Conti – and Monkey – are doing a full Fringe run ahead of an autumn national tour. The lovable ventriloquist improvises the whole hour each night, with a little mute help from those in the audience. Always a joy.

5 to 30 August, Pleasance Courtyard

Tom Parry

As one third of sketch troupe Pappy’s, Tom Parry already has a stellar record of making people laugh at the Fringe. This is his eagerly awaited stand-up debut, and it will be good: he has funny bones.

6 to 30 August, The Tron

Adrienne Truscott

Adrienne Truscott is a stand-up who performs naked from the waist down (Sara Brown Photography)

Her last show – about rape jokes, and performed naked from the waist down – was a Fringe sensation in 2013. Goodness knows how she will follow that up but in One Trick Pony the brazen stand-up is promising jokes about hookers, fish, race and Indian face paint, among other things. Not for the faint-hearted.

5 to 17 August, Gilded Balloon

James Acaster

Nominated for best comedy show: James Acaster, Prompt

One of the smartest stand-ups on the circuit today, Acaster has been nominated for the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award for his last three, intricately constructed, shows. He is getting better all the time, so this might be his lucky year.

5 to 30 August, Pleasance Courtyard

Katherine Ryan

(Micha Theiner)

This could well be the last time to catch Katherine Ryan in such a small room. The fearless stand-up is fast becoming a television regular but it’s live that she really lets fly in all her fierce, filthy glory.

6 to 22 August, The Stand