Three film parody shows at the Edinburgh Festival 2024…

Silence! The Musical – The Unauthorised Parody Of The Silence Of The Lambs | Underbelly Bristo Square | until 25 Aug 
If you’re a big fan of film and also a big fan of parody, then we have a section here that you will like. And if you are also a big fan of musicals, you’re absolutely quids in. For lo, it’s a ‘Silence Of The Lambs’ parody that is also a musical. This one revels in its “unstoppable bad taste”, as a chorus of singing lambs “breaks out into show tunes about the most horrific of subjects”. I have a really good feeling about this. Info and tickets here. 

Hold On To Your Butts | Pleasance Courtyard | until 26 Aug (pictured)
It may not be immediately obvious, I don’t think, from that title (though, yes, some will get it), but this is a live, shot-for-shot parody of that really successful dinosaur movie. Am I allowed to name it, I wonder? Well, you will get it from the artwork. Anyway, this one has come over from the US, is highly acclaimed and sounds like amazing fun – described as a “wildly inventive tour-de-force of comedy, physical theatre and live Foley”.  Info and tickets here.  

Spy Movie: The Play | Pleasance Courtyard | until 26 Aug
“Agent Blonde has 24 hours to save the world. The only things standing in her way are dastardly villains, an outrageous plot, and… a lack of funding”. I tipped this one when it previewed in London, I think – what can I say? I love a spy parody – and I am still finding it rather alluring. Yes, I would like to see a frustrated screenwriter’s “one-night-only presentation of The Greatest Spy Movie (n)Ever Made!” Info and tickets here.