Nina Conti Will Debut NINA'S C*NTI CABARET at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026

Virtuoso ventriloquist, BAFTA nominee and British Comedy Award winning Nina Conti will return to this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her brand-new show ‘Nina's C*nti Cabaret', in which she'll perform with Monkey and her infamous masks whilst also showcasing some of her favourite acts from across the Fringe.

The acclaimed festival favourite will be at Underbelly's McEwan Hall for a limited run of seven shows only from Monday 17th – Monday 24th August 2026 (7.15pm, no performance Wed 19th Aug).

On returning to this year's Fringe, Conti said: “This show I'm particularly excited about because I'll get to enjoy some brilliant guest spots whilst also doing what I love doing best. I can't wait to get back to the Edinburgh audiences, I'll never manage an August without them.”

Nina's return to this year's festival follows an incredibly successful two years with her most recent live show ‘Whose Face Is It Anyway?' – an unparalleled, unscripted show that delved deep into who we are, as Nina hijacked faces to spark a bold, hysterical reality warp.

Debuting the show at the 2024 Fringe, it went on to be that year's best-reviewed show of the festival, with several five-star reviews.

She went on to tour the show to over 40 sell-out theatres across the UK in 2025, including four special performances at London's Apollo Theatre and a further West End run, with a week of shows at London's Duke of York's Theatre. These were followed by a two-week residency at New York's Soho Playhouse, before returning to the Edinburgh Fringe for a further week of shows at McEwan Hall in 2025.

Elsewhere, following its initial premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2024, Nina has recently gone on to celebrate the full release of her narrative film directorial debut ‘Sunlight', which enjoyed a cinematic and digital release in the US and the UK throughout 2025. It is now available to stream on Prime Video in the UK.

Set in New Mexico, the film is a darkly funny and unconventional love story between a man and a woman who doesn't want to come out of a monkey suit. In a clever reference to Conti's own ventriloquism act, which throughout her career has seen her voicing her uncensored thoughts via a monkey puppet, this film is the upshot.

The film co-stars and was co-written with Shenoah Allen, of the Pyjama Men duo, and is executive produced by This Is Spinal Tap creator Christopher Guest.

In a continuation of her work with Christopher Guest, Nina also starred as part of the cast for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues in 2025.

Across her career, comedian and ventriloquist Conti has won a British Comedy Award, stormed 'Live at The Apollo', 'Russell Howard's Good News' & 'Sunday Night at the Palladium', and made a BAFTA nominated film - all without moving her lips.

Nina began her career as an actress at the Royal Shakespeare Company before the genius, and anarchic theatre director Ken Campbell inspired her to become a ventriloquist. In 2008 she won the prestigious Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for her solo show Complete and Utter Conti.

Other television credits include QI, The John Bishop Show and Chris O'Dowd's HBO series Family Tree. She was also a regular in Sony award-winning BBC Radio 4 show Clare and the Community.

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