Blog
Adelaide Fringe 2025: Live Blog
/ February 24, 2025
Banner image: Are We Nearly There Yet poster by John Pedder
Experiencing the Adelaide Fringe is like going to a great gelato shop: so many delicious options, but which flavour to pick?
Over the week I’ll be updating this feed with my top choices and highly recommend downloading the Adelaide Fringe app so you can find shows, compare dates and map your schedule all in one place.
These are the winners so far:
TEN THOUSAND HOURS: This show is your inspiration to go to the gym. Created by the acrobats at Gravity and Other Myths, Ten Thousand Hours describes itself as “a love letter to our devoted bodies” and truly is a showcase of their incredible potential. The cast render you speechless standing four-people tall at times climbing across one another’s shoulders, swinging from one side of the stage to other – all with a seamless grace that belies the real difficultly of what they’re accomplishing. Ten Thousand Hours has one of the most impressive volunteer-engagement moments of the Fringe, and is a wonder to watch.
Duration: 60mins. 20 Feb – 23 Mar
Image: Supplied. Photo by Darcy Grant/Simon McClure
MARVELous THE SHOW: The idea of a Marvel-inspired parody show sounds fantastic: taking some of the biggest moments of pop culture and cinema and turning them on their head for the sake of a laugh – we’re in. The set up for Marvelous the Show was spot on with “Deadpool” welcoming you to the venue, singling out audience members to berate, sass and awkwardly interrupt on first dates. Once the show commenced though, it got weaker. Sound issues plagued this particular performance, muffling Deadpool’s lines beneath his costume and stifling some of the singing numbers. The show moves from once dance track to another – each a singular piece with no narrative connection to the next – with some setting a standard so far above the others their flaws became more apparent. If technical difficulties weren’t a factor, there’s fun to be had in Marvelous – especially for geeks dreaming of gorgeous girls sharing their interest – but it could have done a lot more with the available material.
Duration: 60mins. 21 Feb – 22 Mar
THE FLYING BUBBLE SHOW: Capturing the imagination of children and adults alike, The Flying Bubble Show creates a dreamscape of bubbles that play with the idea of bringing our dream state into waking life. Maxwell the Bubbleologist flies through the sky creating bubbles of all shapes and sizes floating over the audience, encouraging us that “nothing is impossibubble”. The gentle beauty of the bubbles is captivating, and you might just wish you had the same soap-suds skills as Maxwell. Catered for the kids, The Flying Bubble Show isn’t bothered by a screaming child or two and encourages enthusiastic bubble-popping all the way through.
Duration: 60mins. 22 Feb – 23 Mar
Image: Supplied.
YOAH: Fusing circus acts with digital visual effects, YOAH is the latest work from Japan-based company Cirquework. Playing in one of Adelaide Fringe’s biggest venues, the cast get some serious height on their trapeze acts and aerial stunts but suffer from being in a show with little narrative cohesion. The costuming and graphics suggest a story is unfolding, but it doesn’t land with an audience who were heard saying “I don’t know what I’m watching, but it is pretty”. YOAH is indeed beautiful and, with its Japanese origins, brings something unique to the crowded circus offerings at the Fringe but struggles to meet the mark as expected.
Duration: 60mins. 21 Feb – 23 Mar
Image: Supplied.
BUSINESS AND PLEASURE: With a tone that feels like Thank God You’re Here or Aunty Donna, Business and Pleasure uses the simplicity of clever humour and great cast friendship to create an hour of absolute hilarity. Sketches touching on the egotistical fishing goals of a man emasculated by his inability to catch a cod and a French bedbug that just want to be loved fill the show with the nostalgia of high school drama class: it’s fun, it’s silly, it’s playful and innocently joyful. Business and Pleasure captures something uniquely Australian, flavouring Adelaide Fringe with a sweetness otherwise missing among the high-flying circus shows and stunt choreography. They may be playing in an intimate venue this year, but that won’t last long once word gets out. If you want to laugh, giggle and gasp Business and Pleasure is your show.
Duration: 55 mins. 27 Feb
Image: Supplied.
SHRINK WRAPPED: It’s dark but true: the best comedy comes from trauma. If you didn’t have a dad that didn’t love you or a mum that was overbearingly involved in your love life, how can you possibly expect to make someone laugh? But should a comedian’s show be their only way to process their lives, or should we really get a professional involved? Shrink Wrapped gives three comedians five minutes to showcase jokes the audience psychoanalyse, from their need to make their girlfriend gourmet good, have merch guaranteeing their hilarity or re-define themselves at 35. Then, a legitimate professional steps in explaining the deflection tactics, attachment style and missed development mental goals that got them there. Shrink Wrapped taps into a question often asked after seeing a comedy set: are you OK? Mixing laughs with genuine psychological insights, Shrink Wrapped sets itself apart from other comedy shows on the programme and might just teach you something about yourself too.
Duration: 50mins 21 Feb – 19 Mar
Image: Supplied.
LONDON CALLING: Bodies shouldn’t be able to bend that way. Right? Assembling a cast of multi-disciplinary stars, London Calling is an exercise in expanding the limits of human ability as you gasp in awe and horror at the talent (and flexibility) of these jugglers, contortionists and aerial artists. Shadow puppetry is employed to great effect for one of the most nostalgic and magical moments of the show – I’ll just say “Lion King” and leave it at that – and the London theme brings cohesion to a variety show that would otherwise feel especially segmented given the contrast of skillsets. A message of “following your dreams” no matter how bizarre they may seem offers a tender touch, and with audience members from eight to 80, London Calling is one of the better large shows for families.
Duration: 60mins 21 Feb – 23 Mar
Image: Supplied.
PRIMAL: From the creators of Rouge!, Primal is an adult only circus experience combining acrobatics, cabaret and dance to sensational effect. Making you never want to miss leg day, the sheer strength of the cast is incredible as they climb, weave and bend around the stage pushing their ability to its limits. As a brand-new show Primal isn’t as bedded-in its predecessor, but you want to see it now before words spreads and seats are hard to come by. Oh, and it really is “adults only” so don’t bring the kids – unless you want to deal with the consequences later.
Duration: 60mins 20 Feb – 23 Mar
ELIXIR REVIVED: Brought to you by Head First Acrobats, Elixir Revived is a circus-meets-mad-scientist-meets-Magic-Mike show filling the hour with highly skilled variations of aerial acrobatics, slapstick and rope work. It’s clear the cast enjoy what they do and can work a crowd just as well as balance on their heads 5 feet in the air without breaking a sweat (OK, maybe a little sweat). The physicality and comedy is exceptionally fun, validating the MC’s request to add #bestshowever to any videos you share. Beware, these boys know how to make you blush.
Duration: 60 mins 20 Feb – 23 Mar
PUMP: You’ll wish you didn’t relate to Isabella Gilbert and her exploration of club culture and female identity, but as she weaves them together with her experience as an artist, there’s an undeniable sense of truth to her choices. Whether it’s wanting your beauty to be validated by boys on the dance floor while also wanting them to leave you alone, to having your own voice but being taught how to shape it by others, Isabella’s one-woman show is a vulnerable and honest insight into the complexities of being a young woman stepping out into the world.
Duration: 60mins 22 Feb – 28 Feb
THE UNHELPFUL THERAPIST – SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS BADLY:
Like a journalist reporting the news they say you should never get involved in the events themselves – just tell the story. Through no fault of my own (other than following the instructions of comedian David Crisante) I ended up part of the show I was only meant to critique, with David and a room fool of strangers helping me seek petty revenge on a date gone wrong. This wasn’t because of my own mental breakdown, but because it’s what David’s show is all about. The former newspaper columnist and current son of a psychologist asks guests to write their grievances on a piece of paper then puts it to the room to see which problems we’d like to solve (badly). If you’ve ever thought filling someone’s shoes with sour milk or burying a bad smell in their car was a better way to solve an issue than actually addressing the trauma they’ve unearthed, this is the show for you. It’s hilarious, well-delivered and comforting to know you’re not the only one who thinks your nemesis should step on a piece of Lego.
Duration: 60mins 23 Feb – 5 Mar
Image: Supplied.
More to come.
