More Assembly Festival Performances Announced Today

Today (Thu 5 May) Assembly Festival, adds a further 90+ shows to its biggest and most dazzling line-up to date which includes returning Fringe favourites, theatrical debuts, international circus, comedy newcomers and the return of The Flick - Assembly's late-night den off George Square. During August, self-proclaimed Duchess Diane Chorley will be hosting live entertainment at The Flick until 5am. Acts already confirmed include Diane's podcast Chatting with Chorley, her own comedy show Modern Love and her late-night guest line-up show Down The Flick; cult drag superstar Baby Lame in Final Baby Girl!; and Brown Sauce - showcasing some of the best South Asian comedians on the circuit.

Cult songstress Diane Chorley and sidekick Milky - hosts of Assembly's late-night den The Flick which opens 4 Aug

Other cabaret acts joining Assembly's line-up this year include drag show trailblazers Queenz with The Show With BALLS!; original songs, and existential banter from The Idiot Circus; a dazzling array of naughty entertainment in Wanderlust; world-renowned magician and mind control master Chris Dugdale; musical mimicry and comedic impressions from Debra Stephenson (Dead Ringers, Spitting Image); fun filth and laughter from drag sensation Dixie Longate; and Edinburgh's piano man Will Pickvance presenting classical and popular songs, musical improvisation and funny stories.

In comedy, this year's stellar programme just keeps on growing, with the return of yet more big names including Ed Gamble (Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, QI) co-host of the award-winning mega-hit podcast Off Menu, Netflix star Phil Wang, Reginald D. Hunter (Live at the Apollo, HIGNFY, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown); Rob Auton with his hilarious show all about crowds; Perrier Award winning comedy legend Simon Fanshawe OBE; physical comedy from the brilliant, and original Jody Kamali; multi-award winning musical comedy duo Flo and Joan return after touring the UK & Australia; John-Luke Roberts with his sell-out smash-hit Terrible Wonderful Adaptations and, new for 2022, Cabaret Impedimenta which he is hosting, billed as an impossible variety show of amazing acts.

This year's packed line-up also features hilarious improv from festival institution Baby Wants Candy; fast-paced Fringe favourites Police Cops returning with a new blockbuster show, Police Cops: The Musical; Richard Herring with his Leicester Square Theatre Podcast; Taskmaster star and NZ's fastest comedian Paul Williams; kitchen comedy from George Egg; and sketches, stand-up and all sorts from comedy career springboard The Oxford Revue.

Also returning is TV writer and 'neurotic Jewish millennial' Emmy Blotnick; stand-up storytellers Jonny & The Baptists; award-winning physical comedian Tom Walker; blistering stand-up puppetry in the form of Randy Feltface; Jordan Gray - the UK's premier transgender comedian; and Matt Winning with his show based on his book Hot Mess about climate change.

Comedians debuting this year include BriTANicK with international comedy duo Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney; award-winning New York comedians Jake Cornell and Marcia Belsky; Jo Griffin one half of critically acclaimed sketch duo Lola & Jo; cult folk musician Grace Petrie with her stand-up debut Butch Ado About Nothing; newcomer (and reformed redneck) Melissa Stephens with her stand-up routine about the American South; British-Lebanese comedian Isabelle Farah making her stand-up debut after her critically acclaimed 2021 theatre show Ellipsis won rave reviews; Michael Spicer creator of 'The Room Next Door' sketches which have amassed over 60m views online; Your Aunt Fanny - an all womxn theatre company from the North East of England with their latest comedy-sketch show Muff Said; Australian award-winning comedian Nikki Britton; the amazingly funny Christopher Titus from the US; Rachel Bradley one of the hottest names in US comedy; whip-smart satire from Welsh stand-up Ryan Lane; self-professed gay-tastic rage-a-holic, newcomer Tom Detrinis; and award-winning storyteller Roann Hassani McCloskey with another fearless autobiographical tale from her childhood growing up queer & Arab in 90s Wembley.

Adam Fullick, Rachel Elizabeth Coleman and Daisy Minto performing in Orange Skies new theatre production Wild Onion - cabaret, dance, theatre, circus arts and 100 onions on stage (17-26 Aug)

From our dance and circus programme we have Australia's Masters of Choreography debuting their exhilarating show Beats on Pointe; Barely Methodical Troupe's five-star hit show KIN; Swedish digital circus group Sirqus Alfon (America's Got Talent and World's Got Talent); DONUTS inspired by classic sitcoms from the 90s and 00s; JD: (le) pain - a thrilling collage of monologue, movement, music and film beautifully directed by Ursula Martinez; illusion, playful horror and comedy in Lion; and a new kind of narrative cabaret blending theatre, dance and circus arts with approximately 100 onions, in Orange Skies Theatre's production Wild Onion.

In music, 2022 sees the return of musical smash-hit Friendsical; 2019 Grammy Award winners and Fringe favourites Soweto Gospel Choir; musician Stewart D'Arrietta's five-star show My Leonard Cohen: Up Close and Personal; and music a capella style from Oxford University's Out of the Blue. Plus, new this year, we welcome The Three Seas fusing West Bengali Baul music and Himalayan folk song with contemporary sounds from Sydney and Kolkata; and The Queen's Cartoonists who perform classics to some of Aardman's greatest films starring the likes of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

Livia Kojo Alour performing in Black Sheep at the Powder Room 4-27 August

In theatre, joining this year's already incredible packed programme we have Edinburgh's favourite 'lock-up like no other' smash-hit show The Choir of Man; another Assembly Art-award winner Silkworm by Pearlfisher in co-production with the Byre Theatre about two women living in Glasgow seeking asylum from the UK Home Office on the basis of their sexual orientation; two-time Fringe First winner Brian Parks with comic fantasia The Golfer; new work Americana: A Murder Ballad from multiple Fringe First winners Pepperdine Scotland about the vicious cycle of gun violence; Tim Marriott with the premiere of Appraisal a two-handed drama about an annual work review that goes wrong; Tim Walker's critically acclaimed Bloody Difficult Women inspired by the court case Gina Miller brought against Theresa May's government; Something About George and Something About Simon - the tales of music legends George Harrison and Paul Simon respectively; the premiere of Black Sheep a one-woman autobiographical story of a Black woman re-defining and finding love; hilarious pillow talk in Changing the Sheets;a voyage of interstellar sex-ploits from Gash Theatre Needs Some Space; new writing from November Theatre with How to Build A Wax Figure; I Feel the Need about Loree 'Rowdy' Draude - one of the first women to fly combat jets for the US Navy; In The interests of Health and Safety Can Patrons Kindly Supervise Their Children at all Times showboating the consequences of society's reluctance to let their children take risks; In the Name of the Son chronicling the release of Gerry Conlon (The Guildford 4) after 14 years of wrongful imprisonment; Intelligence set in a US State Department basement where the future of war and peace hangs in the balance; the return of Cameron Cook's debut 2021 solo show It All; dark comedy about an axe murder and the Lizzie Borden case with Lottie Platchett Took A Hatchet; Müller's Last Tape about a grandfather's unknown international mystery discovered on cassettes found in his house; Rosy Carrick with Musclebound a show about her childhood obsession with bodybuilders and 80s action films; Never Let Go : An Unauthorised Retelling of James Cameron's Titanic a hilarious parody reconstruction of the film Titanic; The Great Almighty Gill - Daniel Hoffman-Gill's tour-de-force autobiographical performance of his Dad's eulogy; We Are Traffic: An Uber Adventure written and performed by Jonathan Tipton Meyers about his journey through the gig economy after losing everything and deciding to hit the road in his car; and (needing no explanation), Opportunity Productions' An Afternoon with the Ladies of the Cliff Richard Fan Club, Sutton Coldfield 1995.

Younger audiences can look forward to the return of Monski Mouse with her much-loved Baby Cabaret and Baby Disco Dance Hall; Comedy Club 4 Kids; Roustabout Theatre's environmental tale Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish; enchanting puppetry and sheep themed silliness in The Adventures of Bo Peep; and Agent November's smash-hit Escape Room Games returning for all the family to enjoy.

William Burdett-Coutts, Artistic Director of Assembly Festival said: It's been a very tough two years with Covid and we are delighted to be welcoming back a full programme to Assembly Festival. We will be celebrating our delayed 40th Anniversary on the Fringe and for this have a stellar line-up of shows. There is something for everyone and includes fringe favourites along with new faces. It's a crucial year to get the festival back up and running as the greatest arts and entertainment festival in the world."

Edinburgh's longest running multi-venue operator, Assembly Festival's summer season begins on 15 July when it welcomes the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival to Assembly George Sqaure Gardens and Assembly Roxy; before the Edinburgh Food Festival returns once again 22 - 31 July. Its Festival programme will kick off on Wednesday 3 August with the Assembly Gala showcase. After a reduced programme in 2021, this year sees Assembly return to its usual venues, with performances at George Square Gardens and Studios, Assembly Hall, Assembly Checkpoint, and the Assembly Rooms on George Street where Assembly started over 40 years ago.

Bookings can be made at www.assemblyfestival.com or by calling 0131 623 3030.

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