Pull out your planners! The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has announced the second round of programming for its 2023 season, with 138 different shows announced to be participating in the summer season from the Pleasance Theatre Trust. This round of announcements features beloved returning performers, buzzy European acts, and various family friendly offerings.

The Pleasance Edinburgh is a theatre, bar, sport, and recreation complex situated on Pleasance Street in Old Town Edinburgh. With multiple large capacity locations at the main courtyard and at Pleasance Dome, Pleasance is the perfect home for large-scale productions, such as the Fringe favorite improv musical Showstoppers!, as well as many international comedy and cabaret acts. 

This season's offerings will include the return of magician Tom Brace, who brings a new show A Trick Down Memory Lane to the venue, as well as The Ice Hole: A Cardboard Comedy, which recounts an adventurous journey using a thousand pieces of cardboard. Buffy Revamped, which explores the cult television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer through the eyes of beloved antagonist Spike, will return, and the team behind last years Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story will return with a new comedy offering, How to Live a Jellicle Life: Life Lessons from the 2019 Hit Musical Cats.

Holiday parody musical Chriskirkpatrickmas: A Boy Band Christmas Musical, which previously premiered in Los Angeles, will hop the pond, and a series of shows pulled from real-life experiences will be staged, including the World War II aftermath reflection How to Bury a Dead Mule, the deranged underpinnings of high society expose Chatham House Rules, the psychological comedy Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar, and more.

Many more historically inspired shows, including The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria will be available, as well as a host of dark comedies, including the 2021 Platform Presents Playwrights Prize winner Nuclear Children. 

Additionally, physical comedy based shows will come to the fore, with internationally beloved Släpstick presenting Schërzo, which brings the music of George Gershwin to life in a brand new way; and two offerings from the Voloz Collective: the return of their award-winning The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, and their new show The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose, blending acrobatics and live music into a genre-defying hero's journey. 

For a full list of announced programming, visit Pleasance.co.uk, and be sure to keep up with Playbill Goes Fringe as we bring you the best of the international festival!