Tag Archives: The Debutant News

One Of The UK’s Top Hypnotists Comes To Edinburgh Fringe

Prepare to have your minds blown as Daniel Sinclair, one of the UK’s top hypnotists and mind-readers – and Harry Potter lookalike – brings his two unmissable shows to Edinburgh Fringe: Comedy Hypnosis and The Mind Reader.

Ever thought you’d witness an adult morph before your eyes into their 5-year-old self? An accountant forget how to count to 10? Two strangers turn into the stars of Bridget Jones’ Diary? Or perhaps a volunteer convinced that a 5″2 balding gent in the front row is in fact Taylor Swift?

These are just a few examples of the phenomena you’ll be treated to. You’ll be left questioning your very sanity.

His hypnosis shows will (quite literally) keep you stuck to your seats, while his mindreading performances will leave you pondering whether Daniel could know exactly what’s lurking in your internet search history!

REVIEWS

“THE NEXT DERREN BROWN
– Phoenix Arts

“MIND-BLOWING ENTERTAINMENT”
– BBC Three Counties Radio 

“NEXT LEVEL INCREDIBLE… UNCANNILY CLEVER”
– Sofitel Hotel Group 

“A HAIR RAISING PERFORMANCE”
– Fringe Review

“SUCH AN INSANE EXPERIENCE”
– Cole Anderson-James (YouTube influencer) 

His shows are as follows:

COMEDY HYPNOSIS SHOW: THE HYPNOTIST LIVE (free)

·       @ Liquid Room, Warehouse (venue no. 276), 9C Victoria St, Edinburgh EH1 2HE

The show where volunteers have their imaginations unlocked and realities altered… all through the power of hypnosis.

Buckle up tight. Prepare to be spellbound while laughing out loud. Choose to SEE the show or BE the show. 

THE MIND READER LIVE: MIND READING & MENTALISM SHOW (free)

·       @ Liquid Room, Warehouse (venue no. 276), 9C Victoria St, Edinburgh EH1 2HE   

The show that leaves you questioning your very sanity. 

Think of any word or name you like… Would you be impressed if Daniel could guess it? What about the code to unlock your phone? Want to bet he can’t guess that? Think again.

Expect Derren Brown-style mind games, comedy and all-round psychological wonder as Daniel reads volunteers’ minds and makes astonishing predictions live on stage.


About Daniel Sinclair 

Daniel Sinclair is one of the UK’s leading stage hypnotists, a renowned mind reader/mentalist and keynote speaker.

A master of combining suspense, comedy and truly jaw-dropping moments, Daniel’s shows take audiences on a rollercoaster ride of their minds, leaving them laughing out loud while questioning their own realities. He has been described as ‘the most impressive’ in his industry with his warm engaging style and ability to connect with all types of audiences.

With performances spanning the globe from the West End to large theatres, festivals, established holiday parks and viral podcasts, Daniel has a knack for leaving crowds gobsmacked wherever he goes.

In recent years, he has read the minds and hypnotised thousands of people. He has also entertained and educated many around the world with his seminar on the mind.

Social media 

https://www.instagram.com/daniel.s.hypnotist

Premiering at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Comedian Alice Fishbein is proud to announce Leo Still Dies in the End!

NYC comedian, Alice Fishbein, is bringing her one-woman re-enactment of Titanic to Gilded Balloon at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Comedian Alice Fishbein is proud to announce Leo Still Dies in the End! (Yes, that Leo.) Written and performed by Fishbein, this is a one-woman parody re-enactment of James Cameron’s “Titanic,” where Alice plays all the roles and the scenes are randomly selected by a prize wheel. 

Some may call it a sickness, but Alice calls it “nostalgia.” Leo Still Dies in the End is a laugh out loud commentary on how the content we consumed as children affects us as we grow up. 

The show’s pre-production began in Alice’s parents’ apartment, where a young Alice would mouth the words along to the entire movie. It was soon subsequently banned in the apartment. However, the show concept really formed during a trip to Portugal in 2019 when, during dinners, Alice’s sister started saying, “Alice, do Titanic.” And “do Titanic” she did.

After successful workshops in New York City over the last two years, the show has finally made it to Edinburgh Fringe – where director Ryan Lind has scoped down the $200-million-budget movie in creative, unimaginable ways, allowing the audience to sit back and watch a comedian’s presence explode on an unsinkable stage. 

Born out of a love and obsession for an iconic piece of ‘90s media, Leo Still Dies in the End is, at its core, a show about never letting go of the things we love. 

“Imaginatively reinterpreted…brilliantly bonkers fun” ★★★★ The Titanic Critic 

Alice Fishbein says, “This show is a true fever dream of mine. It has been trapped in my brain since I was six and to be able to bring my love for Titanic, childhood obsessions, and a music score I cannot sing for the life of me to the Gilded Balloon stage is honestly mind boggling. I can’t believe this wild show has found an audience but found one it has and I guarantee you will never look at me the same way after seeing the show.” 

Alice Fishbein is a tour de force in the comedy scene of her tiny hometown of New York City. She can be seen on stages across the city performing everything from stand up to Jack and Rose making out (with tongue!) on the front of a doomed ship. You can find her award-winning comedy writing and viral videos all over the internet. Beware the rabbit hole that her comedy will force your brain to tumble down! 

Listings Information 

Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter House (Dram) 

Tickets: Jul 30-Aug 1: £9.00 

  Aug 2-5, 8-10, 15: £12.50 (£11.50) 

  Aug 6-7, 11-14: £11.50 (£10.50)

Previews: July 30 – August 1 Dates: 2-15 August

Time: 22:00 (60 min) 

Box Office: Tickets are available from https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5575/ 

Starring & Written By Alice Fishbein 

Director Ryan Lind 

Candice Fox, Cheers, Mom! Eulogy for a Living Parent

NYC-based writer, filmmaker and performer Candice Fox is bringing her show, Cheers, Mom! Eulogy For a Living Parent to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Following themes from much of her work exploring addiction, family dynamics and the complexities of human relationships, Cheers, Mom! is a wild, hilarious solo show about grief, love and mommy issues. Fox dives into the chaos of loss and a complex mother-daughter saga, blending raw storytelling with striking visuals. 

She examines grief in its messy glory, awkward moments and accidental wisdom, navigating the strange ways we stumble forward. This show isn’t just about death, it’s about mourning someone still alive, dealing with estrangement and how addiction distorts family history. Deeply intimate, darkly funny, Cheers, Mom! Is cathartic, relatable and unexpected. You’ll laugh, cry and probably text your mom something unhinged afterward!

Candice Fox, Writer/Performer: 

Candice Fox is a writer, filmmaker, and performer based in New York City. Her films have screened at international festivals including the New York Movie Awards and Paris Film Awards, and her essays appear on Medium’s leading mental health platform, Invisible Illness. In addition to publishing the poetry collection Mental Maps, she is also currently working on a feature-length documentary exploring a personal and life-altering trauma. 

Preston Mui, Director:

Preston is a multidisciplinary performer who has been on Broadway in Hamilton since 2019, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in dance, acting, and stagecraft. Raised in San Francisco, he trained in singing, martial arts, and dance from a young age, studying at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. His career spans TV, film, live stage, and 360 video, with performance credits alongside icons like Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, and John Legend. Preston’s work blends music, movement, and visual storytelling to create deeply immersive experiences.

Reed Luplau, Movement Direction: 

Reed Luplau is an Australian-born dancer, choreographer, and performer whose career spans Broadway, film, opera, and contemporary dance. He has performed with renowned companies like Sydney Dance Company and Stephen Petronio Company, and appeared in Broadway productions including Moulin Rouge!, The Great Comet of 1812, and Fiddler on the Roof. Reed’s choreographic work includes Head Over Heels, Broadway Bares, and an ASL production of Spring Awakening. He is currently the co-creator and director of When We Touch, a dance narrative exploring a mother-son relationship under a repressive regime.

WHEN: August 1-17 at 13:30 (no show the 4th or 11th)

WHERE: C Venues – Aquila Studio

Roman Eagle Lodge, 2 Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh

“Brutally honest – razor-sharp – and laugh-through-your-tears funny.” – Theatre Beyond Broadway

Acclaimed South African One-Man Play Beggared in S.A. Makes International Premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Following a powerful premiere in Cape Town and widespread acclaim at South
Africa’s National Arts Festival, the gripping solo play Beggared in S.A. now makes its international
debut at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Based on a true story and written by the beggar himself, Stewart Clarke, this raw and redemptive work was shaped over three years in a workshop environment with director Gideon DeWet.
Performed by South African actor Sean Higgs, the play is a searing portrayal of one man’s fall from privilege–and his transformation through the spirit of Ubuntu.

Once a white South African raised with every advantage, Clarke’s life collapses. Homeless and destitute, he takes to the streets with a cardboard sign. But hope arrives from the most unexpected place: a township shack and the poor, black South Africans who offer him more humanity than the world he once ruled. Their belief in Ubuntu–the philosophy of “I am because we are”–rebuilds him from the inside out.

“This is the story of a man who lost everything–except his soul. And maybe that was the point.” –
Sean Higgs

Performed with unflinching honesty, dark humour, and deep compassion, Beggared in S.A. is a 60-minute solo tour de force that invites audiences to question what we truly value–and who we become when the masks fall away.

A once-privileged white man loses everything in post-apartheid South Africa–and finds redemption
in the townships through Ubuntu. Based on a true story. Written by the beggar himself. Raw, funny,
haunting. Performed by Sean Higgs. Directed by Gideon DeWet

Fringe

Gideon DeWet

I bumped into Stewart Clark, a former ballet dancer and hairdresser, and he told me he was living on the street and begging by the robot (traffic light).
I told him to write it all down as I could not help him financially. He did and I spent the next two years editing and directing Stewart in the play.
After 3 performances and 2 fundraisers that raised enough money for his cataract operation, Stewart developed epilepsy and did not want to go on a stage again.

I then approached Sean Higgs to take the part of The Beggar.
Previously we met at the University of Cape Town Drama School in 1984 and have done a lot of theatre work thereafter.
We rehearsed for 6 months via Whatsapp until Sean came to South Africa and we had 2 weeks of face-to-face rehearsals before opening Beggared in Sa at The Masque Theatre. So far, a total of 19 performances in 7 venues in Cape Town and in the Eastern Cape, including the National Arts Festival, formerly known as the Grahamstown Festival.

“My boyfriend paid £700 for Oasis tickets then left me when I refused to get him cocaine. What’s your story?”

A gloriously edgy, laugh‐out‐loud confessional hits the Edinburgh Festival. The only show
at the Fringe where the audience can win £700 Oasis tickets for Murrayfield.

LP Kent invites audiences to unload their most scandalous and hilarious stories as part of her debut show: “My boyfriend paid £700 for Oasis tickets then left me when I refused to get him cocaine. What’s your story?

Each night, festival‐goers will share their own cautionary tales live on stage. The filthier, funnier and more disastrous, the better. And the best story from the whole run – chosen entirely by LP Kent’s
questionable decision-making skills – wins the titular tickets: two standing tickets to Oasis at Murrayfield on 8th August.

This is a comedy show about sharing our truths and standing up to ridiculous demands, whether from people you love or 90s Britpop bands.
Expect confessions, chaos & truth-bomb explosions. Will your story be the one everyone remembers?

About LP Kent

This is LP Kent’s Edinburgh debut. She is more often found promoting events and compering cabaret in London. Horrified by resale ticket prices, LP has combined a desire to find a truly deserving
recipient for the tickets, and her comedic storytelling skills, with her passionate belief that sharing our stories can save our lives.

LP is also being filmed for a short documentary about what it’s like to put on her first Edinburgh show in less than a month.