Hotly-tipped comedy shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe doesn't have much competition for being the biggest and best comedy festival in the world.

For decades, comedians have come from all over the globe, often playing smaller venues than usual, to entertain the masses during the month of August.

Aiming for a rite of passage, a chance to work on a new arena show, or even a coveted award, the top comedians come to the Scottish capital.

Up-and-coming comedians also try to crack the Fringe, with a good show often providing a springboard to an entire career.

There are hundreds of shows running almost 24 hours a day in Edinburgh during the Fringe, and it can often be hard to pick out the best ones.

That becomes especially hard when dawdling for even a second on the Royal Mile sees you virtually showered with flyers.

So we have narrowed our list down to the comedy shows and stand-up performances that have the most buzz around them.

Fleabag: Theatre

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s hilarious turn as the titular character in this play was so well received it got her a BBC series based on the show, and a part in the new Han Solo movie.

The show that was at the Festival in 2013 may not have changed despite the mainstream success, but the main part has.

Waller-Bridge’s success has seen her pass the title role on to actress Maddie Rice, whose performance in Fleabag has been called ‘skilled’.

At the Underbelly, August 21-27

The Craig Ferguson Show

The American-based Scottish comedian returns to the Fringe for the first time in two decades for a show that promises to be truly Transatlantic.

Formerly host of the Late Late Show slot now occupied by James Corden, Ferguson’s first love was comedy before he got into presenting.

Now he combines the two as his Edinburgh show is combined with a radio broadcast on Sirius XM Satellite Radio every night.

At The Gilded Balloon/Rose Theatre, August 7-11, 14-18.

Whose Line is it Anyway?

The legendary improv show started on radio and spawned TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, and even further afield.