Two women, colourfully dressed, laugh at a shared joke

Theatre

Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not To Come

In this fierce, funny and frank show, they explore messy realities, fantasies, sexpectations and navigating life and relationships as British Asian women. Their award-winning, groundbreaking BBC Sounds podcast Brown Girls Do It Too, now in its sixth series, has amassed fans who love their honesty and openness, and faced backlash for breaking the silence on sex in Asian communities. With songs, sketches and some graphic content, this is a celebration of brown British women, genital warts and all.

30 July - 24 August 2025, 4:00 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

Cartoon featuring an old fashioned mic, piano with a picture of Tom Lehrer on it and Mitch Benn playing guitar

Comedy

Mitch Benn: The Lehrer Effect

When, years ago, a teenage Mitch discovered American comic songwriting legend Tom Lehrer, the course of his life was changed forever. Mitch looks at the legacy of the elusive Lehrer, the creative debt owed to him by all those who mix humour and melody, and performs some of the more Lehreresque of his own songs. Since Mr Lehrer (at time of writing, still slogging obstinately along at the age of 97) recently placed his entire catalogue in public domain, expect a few Mitch Benn-ified covers of some of Tom's most famous creations as well.

30 July - 25 August 2025, 4:00 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

Comedy

Jain Edwards: She-Devil

Jain isn't like other girls. She's worse. But she's finally ready to Lean In (and receive a little forehead kiss from hubby). She-Devil is a show about conspiracy theories, autism and men turning on you. Expect silly, subversive comedy from literally the best comedian.  

30 July - 25 August 2025, 4:15 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

A woman on a red motorcycle with a backdrop of a street in italy

Comedy

Stefania Licari: I Can Make You Italian in 55 Minutes

Award-winning Stefania Licari, expat and medic-turned-comic, promises to make the audience a little bit more Italian, 10% sexier and 100% happier in her new show. After sell-out runs of her previous work at Edinburgh Fringe 2022, 2023 and 2024, Stefania has established herself as a rising star and one of the most exciting international acts in the circuit. This is your unique chance for comedy, pizza and endless love all rolled into an authentic Italian drama. 

30 July - 24 August 2025, 4:15 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

Jeromaia Detto is a baby sat in front of a wall of portraits depicting other babies doing grown up jobs.

Comedy

Jeromaia Detto: When I Grow Up...

Full of absurd characters, wild whimsy and a healthy sprinkle of silliness, strap in for a delicious fringe experience like none other - a brand new show each night based on your childhood career aspirations! What did you want to be when you grew up? A doctor? A florist? Maybe a professional jumper, who jumps up and down really well? Maybe you wanted to be a fish! Whatever it is, whatever the dream, Jeromaia will bring it to life with a stage full of costumes & a heart full of imagination! Judges Pick (Comedy) - Melbourne Fringe 2024 Winner Best Comedy Weekly Award - Adelaide Fringe 2024

30 July - 24 August 2025, 4:20 pm

Underbelly George Square

Two white men face the camera in a mysterious way. One holds a rolled up paper tied with an orange bow while the other holds an empty jar with its cap on the other hand.

Cabaret and Variety

Honest Fraud

Ricardo Malerbi and Rudi Solon present a unique kind of game in which every player expects to be deceived and finds joy in it. If you accept the challenge and embrace the deception, you will leave more exhilarated than when you arrived. This show explores the fine line between what is real and what merely appears to be, turning illusion into an act of pure honesty and celebrating the paradox at its core. A decision will feel entirely yours – until you realise it never was. Telepathy, after all, is not about reading minds, but about guiding them.

30 July - 25 August 2025, 4:40 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

Laura Benanti

Theatre

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares is a one-woman comedy show from the mind of Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. With her razor-sharp wit, the star of stage and screen blends side-splitting storytelling with original songs co-written with Todd Almond. The New York Times Critic's Pick Nobody Cares is a hilarious, heartfelt and sometimes brutally honest tribute to recovering ingenues, mothers, and anybody working on themselves. 

30 July - 24 August 2025, 4:55 pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

Comedy

David's One-Man Band (F*ck You, Steven)

Welcome to the mid-noughties world of emo teen and future rockstar, David. He's smart. He's mature. He's memorised a diagram of a vulva and it definitely didn't make him feel sick. And he's here to headline Sticky Floors – the coolest under 16s band night in the Bay Area. But when his bandmate doesn't show, will he handle himself with a sense of poise and rationality? With live renditions of classic rock, original songs and emo bangers, this coming-of-age character comedy looks at how teenage boys communicate when, like, words are hard.

31 July - 24 August 2025, 4:10 pm

Underbelly Cowgate

Wellness

Soul Water Sauna at Circus Hub!

Step into the soothing warmth, where the noise fades and presence returns. Between steams, awaken your senses with invigorating cold plunges. For those curious to go deeper, daily guided rituals invite a richer connection to this ancient tradition. Amidst the buzz and brilliance of the festival, pause for a moment of playful restoration. Rooted in centuries of practice, our mobile sauna is more than heat — it’s a space to reconnect, reflect, and immerse in the magic. Please remember to bring with you to your session: 2 towels (one to sit on) Bottle of water Cup for your tea after the session Swimmers Please take a moment to read the information below which are important to you and your sauna session. Sauna Tips FAQ’s Soul Water Sauna will also be hosting Daily Ritual Sessions. Click HERE to see times and book.

1 - 23 August 2025, 5:15 pm

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows

The wheel of death is at both sides of the image, an acrobat is in each wheel and the title reads 'The Nose Dive Assembly' in colourful text

Dance Physical Theatre and Circus

The Nose Dive Assembly

In Nose Dive Assembly we meet Pierrot, the distracted mistress of ceremonies, who is meant to be running the show – but she can’t focus. The circus swirls around her, yet something’s holding her back. While the troupe take to the skies, she’s stuck on the ground. She yearns to fly. Featuring a range of large-scale contemporary circus disciplines including teeterboard, highwire and the Wheel of Death – a huge rotating apparatus described as 'hypnotic to watch... when momentum builds, it’s as if the person reaching the summit has a moment of zero gravity' (Guardian).

2 - 23 August 2025, 4:10 pm

Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows