It is festival season and that means that in the next month there is so many great comedy festivals to look forward to! This month we are looking at some of the great shows that you can see at the Edinburgh Fringe. So take note because we are going to give you all the information you need for just a handful of some of the great shows happening this year!
The Greatest Magic Show
Location: Assembly George Square Gardens – Palais du Variété (Venue 3)
Dates: Aug 6th-16th, 18th-23rd, 25th-31st
Time: 11:45
Price: £16.50 Concessions £15.50
Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-greatest-magic-show
Hello! Tell us all about your show!
The four shows we are bringing to Edinburgh this year – The Greatest Magic Show, CIRCUS The Show, Explosive Science Show and Adults Only Magic Show – are all very different from one another as the names suggest!
The Greatest Magic Show first performed in Edinburgh back in 2019 and this will be our sixth year back! Starring myself and Justin Williams – my business partner and best friend – we essentially pack as much comedy and illusions that we can into 60 minutes – all the while using loads of kids from of the audience (who all get a FREE MAGIC WAND on entry) to make the magic happen!
What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?
With our schedule being the way it is, it is often very hard to try and make time to catch many other shows while we are there and usually, the best shows are the ones you discover by pure accident! We are always excited to see what other Australian artists and companies are bringing over, as there is such a strong sense of camaraderie among everyone making the trip from home. As well as trying to see as many other shows also performing with Assembly and in the Palais Du Variete Spiegeltent as we end up spending so much time with them backstage over the month between shows.
As a company presenting four very different shows this year — Explosive Science Show, The Greatest Magic Show, CIRCUS The Show and Adults Only Magic Show — we are naturally drawn to family work, circus, comedy, cabaret, magic and anything that feels bold, polished and full of heart. Edinburgh is such a brilliant place to be inspired by other artists. You can see a tiny experimental show in a basement one hour, then a huge international production the next, and both can stay with you for completely different reasons.
Have you done the fringe before? What are the key pieces of advice you have been given or would give to new groups or people performing at the fringe.
Yes — this will be our sixth time travelling from Australia to Edinburgh for the Fringe, which still feels like a huge privilege every time we do it.
The Greatest Magic Show first performed at Edinburgh in 2019, and then, like so many international companies, we had a two-year hiatus when we were unable to travel to the UK due to COVID. In 2022 we returned with The Greatest Magic Show and Adults Only Magic Show. In 2023 we added CIRCUS The Show to the line-up, and in 2024 we brought those same three shows back again. In 2025 we added Explosive Science Show, and this year we are thrilled to be returning with all four productions – all with Assembly in George Square Gardens!
The biggest piece of advice I would give to anyone performing at the Fringe for the first time is to prepare properly but also be ready to adapt. Edinburgh is incredible, but it is not easy. It is physically, emotionally and financially demanding, so you need to make sure you are prepared, organised and willing to work incredibly hard for the month.
I would also say: do not measure success purely by reviews, awards or ticket sales. Of course those things matter, but Fringe can and has opened doors for us in so many other ways.
And finally — look after your team. The Fringe is a marathon, not a sprint. Sleep when you can, eat properly, be kind to each other, and never forget why you are there in the first place.
Talk us through your daily routine for a day at the Fringe
A day at the Fringe for me usually starts around 8am with coffee, breakfast and emails — ideally in that order. The day gets moving very quickly as we head into Assembly at George Square Gardens to set up for Explosive Science Show, which is our first show of the day at 10am. It is a pretty high-energy way to begin the morning, so if you’re not fully awake by the show is about to start, the first big explosion of the show definitely does the trick!
Straight after that, we head next door to the Palais Du Variete Spiegeltent for The Greatest Magic Show and CIRCUS The Show back-to-back. That part of the day is always go-go-go without much time to stop and think about how tired you are. Make-up, get dressed, set stage for show, perform the show, photos and merch with audience after, and then a straight reset ready to go again!
Once the family shows are done, I will make sure to grab something to eat and, if the Fringe gods allow it, I will fit in a couple of hours’ nap before switching gears for the evening.
Around 7:30pm, we start getting ready for Adults Only Magic Show, which performs at 9:40pm. It is a completely different energy from the family shows — cheekier, louder and a lot more chaotic in the best possible way – but does also mean we have to be ready for anything.
After the show and pack down, there is usually time for a wind down drink, then we try to get home at a vaguely reasonable hour and do it all again the next day!
Ok, where is your favourite place to eat at the Fringe?
One of the dangerous things about Edinburgh during the Fringe is that there are so many great places to eat, but often so little time to actually sit down and enjoy them properly! That being said, the crepe stall out the front of Assembly in George Square Gardens is an absolute MUST for me basically every day, and then a poke bowl from up the street to make sure I’m eating some sort of vegetable at least once a day!
On our days off or if we have a bit of spare time in between shows, I love going and sitting down at one of the restaurants around George Square such as Mezcal Mexican, Paradise Palms or The Doctor’s Pub up the road.
Best thing about performing at the fringe?
The audiences. Without question.
It sounds corny but seeing the smiles on people’s faces is 100% the reason we do what we do and will always be the best thing about performing at festivals like Edinburgh Fringe. It has always been a great mantra within our company to go out and perform each and every show as if it was your last. As if it was the last show that the audience will ever see! We give 110% to every single one of our shows – no matter the weather, or how we may be feeling, or anything else. Every show is equally important because that is the show that your audience members chose to see. We give them everything we have and leave it all out on the stage!
For our family shows especially – Explosive Science Show, The Greatest Magic Show and CIRCUS The Show – it is incredible seeing children walk in not knowing what to expect, and then to see them for photos afterwards absolutely buzzing with excitement wanting to tell you every single thing they loved about the show.
Then with Adults Only Magic Show, we get the other side of fringe – adults who are ready to laugh and let loose on a brilliantly ridiculous night out!
Do you bring anything special from home to make it feel more special whilst you are away?
When you are travelling from Australia, you cannot bring too much, because luggage space disappears very quickly once props, costumes and production materials are involved. But I think everyone brings small things that help make the month feel a little more grounded.
For us, the special thing is probably less about objects and more about the people. We travel such a long way to be at the Fringe, and over the years Edinburgh has become a kind of second home for the company. There is something really lovely about returning to the same city every year and having it be like a big reunion full of so many familiar faces that you have grown close friendships and relationships with over the years. All together in one city for an epic month of shows!
That familiarity is what makes it feel special, the sense of belonging in the artist community even though we are so far from home.
What are your best hacks to save money whilst at the Fringe?
The biggest one for me is making sure I am planning early – sometimes even booking things in up to a year in advance! Accommodation, flights, freight, marketing and production costs can all become very expensive very quickly, especially when travelling internationally from Australia with multiple shows.
Sharing resources across shows also makes a huge difference. Because we are bringing Explosive Science Show, The Greatest Magic Show, CIRCUS The Show and Adults Only Magic Show, we are able to be strategic with casting our performers, marketing budgets, equipment, accommodation and logistics in a way that would be much harder for a single production.
On a day-to-day level: supermarket meals, reusable water bottles, walking instead of constantly taking transport, and being realistic about how often you can (or should) eat out. The Fringe can tempt you into spending money constantly, and it is hard to find time to cook meals at home, so we always try and put some sort of a structure in place that allows us to save money wherever we can particularly on things like food for the month.
And of course, supporting other artists through comp tickets, spreading word of mouth, helping to cross-promote and getting out on the street doing more grassroots marketing that costs you nothing!
If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?
The social media for each of our shows :
@TheGreatestMagicShow
And people can follow Showmen Productions online at our website: www.showmenproductions.com.au
And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?
We don’t disappoint
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