The Scaring By Crybabies To Premier At Edinburgh Fringe

Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominees Crybabies (Michael Clarke, James Gault, Ed Jones) join forces with Olivier Award-winning Fleabag and Baby Reindeer producers Francesca Moody Productions and director Jon Brittain (Baby Reindeer, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!), to present The Scaring -a terrifying tale of fear, faith, fathers (dads), fathers (priests), fantoms (phantoms), and finally moving on. 

The Scaring will premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance Two – located, appropriately enough, on the site of an old graveyard.

When former priest Arthur Holland checks into a remote hotel, he soon finds out it’s not just the breakfast buffet which poses a threat to life. Forced into an unlikely double act with Gerry, the ghost of a long dead guest, Arthur must tackle demons both public and private under the watchful eye of Mr Lyle – the hotel’s Norman Bates-esque manager.

With absurd characters, classic horror tropes, and a plot that twists itself into ever stranger territory, The Scaring combines Crybabies’ signature blend of surreal sketch, narrative ambition, and theatrical mischief. Expect Shakespearean zombies, broken-armed serial killers and walking waxworks, in a terrifying tale where not everything is as it seems. Or rather, as it screams. 

Despite the chaos, it all makes sense. The Scaring moves at a breakneck pace, with Crybabies shapeshifting through dozens of roles and whiplash-fast costume changes – often within the same scene. The sheer number of characters, the speed of the switches, and the fact that the audience somehow always knows exactly who’s who borders on the miraculous.

The show embraces a sharper visual ambition this year, with moments of genuinely slick theatricality – but it never loses the ramshackle brilliance Crybabies are known for. Expect high drama built from low-budget nonsense: costumes assembled from scraps, effects powered by suggestion, and set pieces that are both ridiculous and ridiculously effective. It’s big-budget horror on a shoestring; ambitious, theatrical, and still held together with gaffer tape.

The Scaring marks a bold new chapter for Crybabies – bigger, stranger, and more ambitious than ever. Produced by Francesca Moody Productions – the Olivier award-winning powerhouse behind Fleabag, Baby Reindeer and Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder!, in association with award-winning comedy and podcast company Plosive Live – this is Crybabies with the volume up. It’s slicker, spookier, and somehow even sillier.

Since their last Fringe run, all three Crybabies have been quietly levelling up. They’ve been working on a new BBC radio series, developing projects for screen, and popping up on TV including roles in Jack Rooke’s award-winning Channel 4 series Big Boys, Disney’s Extraordinary and Ricky Gervais’ After Life on Netflix. Their solo careers have taken exciting steps forward, while their collective chaos has only grown more refined.

This is Crybabies’ third Fringe run, following their breakout debut Danger Brigade (2019) and the sci-fi epic Bagbeard (2022), both of which sold out and earned the trio a loyal, slightly obsessed fanbase. With their signature blend of chaos, tenderness and theatrical invention, Crybabies have become one of the most widely loved sketch acts on the Fringe – and they’re only getting stranger.

The trio’s BBC radio series Crybabies Present… saw the boys take the big screen to your normal-sized radios across the country. The series launched in 2024 with Bagbeard, followed by Yours, Fatally last August, with both earning nominations at the BBC Audio Drama Awards in 2025 and 2026 respectively.

Crybabies said: “Three guys in their thirties doing narrative sketch comedy? Now that’s terrifying. We’re thrilled to be back at the Fringe combining our three great loves – horror, comedy and globally revered arts festivals – and the fact we’re getting to do it with FMP is as crazy as it is insane. In preparation for The Scaring, some of us (Michael and James) watched hundreds of horror films. However, another of us (Ed) fell asleep during Rosemary’s Baby, so expect big scares, big laughs, and an unresolved plot line about a couple living happily in New York.”

Fancesca Moody said: “When I first saw Crybabies I knew immediately that their work demanded a bigger stage. The Scaring is a real step up – properly ambitious, genuinely theatrical – and this Edinburgh season is just the start. I’m thrilled to be creatively in their orbit and part of growing their work. Their charm and originality is completely intact, but this is a whole new scale of work.”

Running at Pleasance Two, at 8pm, from 5th – 30th August (not 15th or 18th). Tickets are on sale now. 

Website: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/crybabies-scaring