‘Are you ready for some filth?’ Julian Clary and more on comedy’s great smut explosion
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is seeing a surge in 'smut-themed' comedy and performance art, including interactive erotic fiction writing and storytelling slams. Performers like Julian Clary and Cameryn Moore are exploring themes of sexuality and fantasy in front of live audiences.
Why it matters
This trend reflects a broader cultural shift in how sexual expression and comedy intersect in modern performance art spaces.
Shocked the elderly of Harrogate … Clary backstage at Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh. Shocked the elderly of Harrogate … Clary backstage at Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh. Edinburgh festival 2026 ‘Are you ready for some filth?’ Julian Clary and more on comedy’s great smut explosion Clary’s back with Fully Dilated, a burlesque star called Entendre Entendre is doing lewd singalongs and there’s an A-Z of very dirty words. Our writer investigates Edinburgh’s smut outbreak – and ends up getting his own fantasies turned into erotica
Tim Jonze Thu 20 Aug 2026 00.00 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google O n a street in Edinburgh, a woman I’ve only just met is quizzing me on my sexual fantasies. “Do you want softcore or hardcore? What positions do you prefer?” asks Cameryn Moore, a former phone sex operator turned playwright from the US, along with other, less printable, questions.
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