EDINBURGH 2023: Pick of the Programme - Children's Shows

With nearly 3000 shows now on sale for the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, trying to narrow down what to see can be a bit of a task. BWW reviewer Natalie O'Donoghue has selected her top ten picks across the festival programme to highlight the shows you really don't want to miss this year!

Mog the Forgetful Cat

Judith Kerr's Mog the Forgetful Cat, adapted for the stage by The Wardrobe Ensemble. A Wardrobe Ensemble, Old Vic, and Royal & Derngate Northampton co-production. Mog is a very forgetful cat. She forgets that she has a cat flap, she forgets that she's already eaten her supper, and she forgets that cats don't have eggs for breakfast every day. Bother that cat! But Mog's forgetfulness can come in handy...

Roger McGough's Money-Go-Round

Renowned poet Roger McGough brings to life his witty and mischievous children's book in a vibrant new musical adaptation. Follow the trail of Mr Toad's coin in this 'beginner's guide to the mysteries of economics' (The School Librarian), sure to delight audiences of all ages.

Olaf Falafel's Super Stupid Show (20% More Stupider)

Join comedian and children's author Olaf Falafel for an hour of kid's comedy which is now 20% more stupider than ever before. There will be truth-telling cheese, fishing, ducks, bumbags, sausages and maybe some drawing. Family-friendly frivolity that will leave you feeling a lot less intelligent than when you walked in, from one of the masters of the (stupid) art. Be there or be a dodecahedron.

Doktor Kaboom and the Wheel of Even More Science!

The Doktor is back! With even more science! More laughs! More Kaboom! Spin the wheel and choose what happens next. Giant chemical reactions! Fly a homemade hovercraft! Shrink-wrap your teenager! Every show is different. With brand-new experiments for 2023, don’t miss this spectacular 'must-see' (Entertainment-Now.com) show for all ages. So, step right up, and spin that wheel!

Shelf: The Kid's Show

Join best friends Rachel and Ruby for a kids' comedy show that's fun for all the family! Full of sketches, songs, pranks and silliness. Rachel and Ruby use physical comedy and silly characters to bring sketch comedy to children of all ages – a fun way to explore emotions, friendship and shyness.

Marcel Lucont: Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow For Awful Children

Winner: Best Kids Show 2022 – UK Kids Comedy Festival. Top 10 Children's Fringe Shows (Scotsman). The wild interactive game show returns, where kids get to be pests, politicians and petomanes to be crowned the most awful child. See what happens when international insouciance meets infantile exuberance.

The Mighty Kids Beatbox Comedy Show Strikes Back!

Hey kids and kidults, cool cats and dancing dogs, Jarred and Hobbit are back with an all-new action-packed hoopla! Guaranteed LOLs and interactive fun for the entire family (OK, maybe not the cats and dogs!). World-class beatboxing! Hilarious jokes! Loads of Tomfoolery, Katefoolery and whatever-your-name-is foolery with the best beatbox/comedy combo around. It's the bee's knees. The ant's pants. The snake's hips. The dog's...(again, let's leave the dogs out of it).

Drag Queen Story Hour

Drag Queen Story Hour: the theatrical experience is here! (Oh no they aren't?) Oh yes they are! What do you get when you cross fabulously inclusive stories and fabulously dressed drag queens? Let's find out! Join Aida H Dee The Storytime Drag Queen as you journey through a magical world of colourful characters that will make smiles wrap around faces, hilarious antics that will leave everyone in stitches and a drag queen that just cannot remember where she placed her spare wig! Written by, performed by, and produced by The Storytime Drag Queen!

The Dark Room for Kids!

You and your family are stuck inside a live-action videogame! How will you escape?! Will you: A) Find light switch? B) Go north? C) Explode in a shower of stinking guts? An interactive adventure featuring terrible prizes and total mayhem! This bit is for parents only: this show is recommended for 11+ but younger kids are welcome. There may be some mild language but it's more like Roald Dahl than YouTube.

Tales From A Haunted Bookshop

A spooky show of terrible tales, bothersome books and gruesome goings on! The Haunted Bookshop has a story for everyone. Everyone, that is, with an appetite for the ghastly, the ghostly and the down right grizzly. Miss Cordelia Hemlock has tasked her assistant, Ransome Squelch, with traveling the world and snatching despicable stories to be lovingly bound into books. If you're lucky, the frankly frightening pair might even share some of them with you. It'd be their pleasure... or perhaps their curse. A weird and wonderfully dark show for horrid children and irresponsible adults.

The full Edfringe programme is available at www.edfringe.com

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