DON'T BE RIDICULOUS, EVERYBODY WANTS THIS to Open at Edinburgh Fringe
The Memphis-born comedian will perform at The Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose's Bothie Room.
On the heels of her 2025 debut, comedian and writer Candace Bryan will return to Edinburgh with a new hour of fast-paced, joke-heavy standup about the struggle between her love of online shopping and her personal politics, Don't Be Ridiculous, Everybody Wants This.
It's easy to become a shopaholic when the mall is literally in your pocket. These days, you can order a fedora on Deliveroo and leave online reviews for everything from a toilet brush to the Bible. You can even get into debt buying a poke bowl with Klarna's pay-in-3 scheme. In Don't Be Ridiculous, Everybody Wants This, Candace eviscerates modern consumerist culture and confesses how her own mind and wallet have been seduced by it.
A "theoretical minimalist" trying to reconcile her constant urge to spend with her left-leaning morals, Candace asks: Is it OK to want to look hot at a protest? Is her love of hats the reason she can't afford a home? Is doomshopping the new doomscrolling? The result is a sharp and refreshing perspective on trying to find happiness in an increasingly worrying world.
Don't Be Ridiculous, Everybody Wants This. The show runs 5th-31st at The Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Bothie Room).
Candace Bryan is an American stand-up comedian from Memphis, Tennessee, now based in London. Her sharp writing and unique persona have seen her rise quickly on the London comedy circuit. She was shortlisted for Chortle's Hotshots (2025), she's a Soho Theatre Comedy Plus Lab Alum (2024) and has been endorsed by the UK Arts Council as showing "exceptional promise" as a comedy performer and awarded a Global Talent visa. She has twice been a Funny Women Best Comedian nominee, was a 2Northdown New Act Semi-Finalist 2022, is an undefeated, 9X winner at the Bill Murray's Roast Battle UK, has been featured on the international Roast Battle podcast and has won gong shows across London. Her 2023 Edinburgh Fringe work-in-progress show, Communist Dad, was praised by British Comedy Guide and Mumble Comedy called the show 'well funny' and 'a cathartic journey.' In 2025, she had jokes featured on both The Guardian's and the Telegraph's "Best Jokes of the Fringe" lists and on BBC Scotland.
Before stand-up, Candace worked as a journalist and essayist in New York City, writing for publications including Vice, Allure, Cosmopolitan, The New York Observer and many more.
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