Three comedy shows with puppets being staged at Edinburgh Festival 2023…

Charlie Vero-Martin: Picnic | Underbelly Cowgate | 3-27 Aug
Puppets have a long history of being a great complement to comedy, so let’s see what we find in this year’s Fringe line up, eh? First up is acclaimed Scottish comedian Charlie Vero-Martin with a show about how the planet is melting and life’s spinning out of control. Expect “sneaky salamanders, sexy fishies and passive-aggressive pinecones”, who try to sabotage her attempts to put things right. Click here for info and tickets.

Lachlan Werner: Voices Of Evil | Pleasance Courtyard | 2-27 Aug (pictured)
“Lachy is a poof and apparently a virgin. Brew is a small, squishy witch, and she has decided to sacrifice him. To help with his self-esteem”. Ventriloquist, clown and live artist Lachlan Werner is a rising star whose, um, rise, I have been watching with interest elsewhere, but this is his Edinburgh debut, so, yes, this could have been in a different section. It’s not though, because puppets. Expect queer subversion of the horror genre. Click here for info and tickets.

Bill’s 44th | Underbelly Cowgate | 3-27 Aug
The previous two tips in this section were from the comedy programme, and this one is not, but it is a piece of funny theatre: a poignant, surreal tragicomedy for grown-ups featuring “puppetry, raucous balloons, and a cheeky piece of crudité that collide to examine the pitfalls of impatience, the wonder of loneliness, and the universal passage of time”. Click here for info and tickets.