EDINBURGH 2025: Review: ALICE FRASER: A PASSION FOR PASSION, Friesian At Underbelly, Bristo Square
Alice Fraser is a gorgeous writer and wordsmith
By: Erin Roche Aug. 24, 2025
Click Here for More on Edinburgh Festival
In a brand new hour for Edinburgh 2025, the erudite and endlessly affable comic Alice Fraser has brought A Passion for Passion to Underbelly Bristo Square this year - a comedy show about writing a book about romance. (As an audience member it does not feel as niche as that sounds!)
Known for her political satirising on popular podcasts like The Bugle and her genre-defying cerebral comedy, Alice Fraser is a gorgeous writer and wordsmith. She insists that none of this is mutually exclusive with a love of romance literature, and it is a convincing hour relaying how romance novels have saved her and they could save you, too, whether you need escapism, emotional exploration or joyful silliness.
Always a thoughtful performer, Fraser interacts with her crowd in a gentle and inviting way, appealing to both newcomers and long-time fans of her brilliant stand-up shows. Expect childhood anecdotes about her expectations of dating, warmth and wit and a subversion of the phrase “guilty pleasure”.
A celebration of the literary world’s most lucrative genre, the book she has written is, in Fraser fashion, ineffably inventive in that she has literally invented a romance author, D'Ancey LaGuarde; the book delves into “his” body of work. It aptly features herself clothed in a blood-red corseted gown, cradled by a bare chested man, and the both of them riding a book, what else?
This is a delightful hour with a few poignant moments as well.
A Passion for Passion is at Fresian at Underbelly, Bristo Square until 25 Aug
Reader Reviews
Get Broadway News on WhatsApp
Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.
Videos