Singaporean comedian Sam See is making the most of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, performing, hosting and producing three very different comedy shows — including a brand-new solo hour, the interactive medieval game show Off With Your Head, and the fourth edition of The Asian Comedy Showcase.

If there is one thing you can say about Sam See, it is that he keeps himself busy. This August, the award-nominated Singaporean comedian returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe not with one show, but with a small comedy empire: a brand-new solo hour, the interactive comedy game show Off With Your Head, and the fourth annual Asian Comedy Showcase.

For See, the Fringe isn’t simply about turning up, doing a set and going home. It’s an opportunity to make the kind of comedy he wants to see, and to create opportunities for other comedians along the way.

His new solo show, Sam See It, Sam Say It, Sam Sort It, is perhaps the clearest expression of that ambition. See takes aim at the expectations placed on comedians to become a certain kind of “successful comedian”, while embracing the things that make his work distinctive: slideshow comedy, educational humour, heartfelt messages and jokes about being gay, Asian, an immigrant, or whatever box the audience might be tempted to put him in.

It’s a show about trying to tick the boxes while simultaneously questioning why those boxes exist in the first place. And if the reviews are anything to go by, See is already very good at owning a room while doing it.

With five star reviews that described him as “a Singaporean powerhouse” who “owns the room from the first word and doesn’t let go”, described as radiating “effervescent positivity” and possessing “Jimmy Carr swagger and Jiminy Cricket warmth”, See’s killer combo of confidence, warmth and a willingness to make comedy about himself without taking himself too seriously is what runs through his Fringe work.

For the third year, See is bringing Off With Your Head to Edinburgh, an interactive comedy game show that drops audiences into a cursed 12th-century kingdom where guest performers attempt to rule, and the audience gets to decide how long they survive.

Created by See and game designer Stephen Case, the show combines stand-up, short-form improv, storytelling, audience interaction and game mechanics. Audiences aren’t simply spectators: they become peasants, advisors and participants in a chaotic medieval world where even the most beloved ruler can find themselves facing execution.

The show’s previous guests have included performers from The Chase, Taskmaster Australia, Taskmaster New Zealand, Superstore, Dropout and the tabletop gaming world. And the concept is clearly travelling. After expanding beyond Edinburgh and London to Brighton and Singapore, Off With Your Head has also been invited back to UK Games Expo for a second consecutive year. For See, that’s another part of the appeal of the Fringe: creating something slightly difficult to categorise and seeing just how far it can go.

At lunchtime, See turns his attention to another project he has built from the ground up. Now in its fourth year, The Asian Comedy Showcase was created in response to a familiar problem for Asian comedians: the expectation that there should be one Asian performer on a bill, rather than an opportunity for Asian comedians to work alongside one another.

Since launching in 2023, the showcase has featured more than 80 Asian comedians from around the world, ranging from first-time performers to established names including Eshaan Akbar, Jenny Tian, Urooj Ashfaq, Kavin Jay and others.

The showcase also deliberately includes a “Token White” act, turning the familiar idea of tokenism on its head while making space for comedians who have experienced exclusion in their own careers.

This year’s lineup includes Lizzy Hoo, Noah Szto and Phil Wang alongside performers from the UK and Edinburgh comedy scenes, with See aiming to make the showcase its biggest yet. And just as importantly, the project is about making sure performers are paid for their work and creating a space where audiences can discover the breadth of Asian comedy.

Taken together, See’s Fringe programme says a lot about what he wants from comedy. He wants to make people laugh, certainly. But he also wants to make shows that don’t fit neatly into one genre, give audiences a reason to participate, create opportunities for other performers and challenge some of the assumptions about what a comedian is supposed to look like or talk about. And he’s willing to do the work.

This Fringe, See is simultaneously a stand-up comedian, show creator, host, producer, curator and occasional medieval authority figure. with performances stretching from lunchtime into the evening.

His solo show asks what it means to become a “successful comedian”, and while he doesn’t have an exact answer, perhaps through his work, you see how success isn’t simply about ticking the right boxes. Perhaps it’s about building the room you want to perform in, bringing the people you want to see onto the stage, and making audiences trust you enough to come along for the ride. For a comedian who already owns the room from the first word, See appears to have decided he might as well build a few more rooms while he’s there.

Sam See at Edinburgh Fringe 2026

Sam See It, Sam Say It, Sam Sort It (WIP)
August 10, 17, 24 at 14:45 (60 min)
The Counting House, 38 West Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DD

Off With Your Head
August 6–31, 2026 (except Tuesdays), 8:15pm (55min)
West Nic Records, Main Cellar, 32b W Nicolson St, Edinburgh

The Asian Comedy Showcase
August 6–31, 2026 (except Tuesdays), 1pm (55min)
The Pear Tree, 36 W Nicolson St, Edinburgh