Perth Fringe World 2025 -17 January to 16 February
The Perth Fringe Festival, also known as FRINGE WORLD, is an annual multi-arts festival held in Perth, Western Australia, during the city’s summer festival season in January and February. It’s a vibrant celebration of creativity and joy, featuring a diverse range of performances including circus, cabaret, comedy, music, dance, theatre, film, and visual art.
The festival attracts artists and acts from around the world, offering audiences a chance to experience unique and innovative performances. With over 500 shows, including world premieres, Australian premieres, and new performances, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
FRINGE WORLD is not just about the performances; it’s also about the community and the shared experience of discovering new and exciting art. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, the festival promises unforgettable experiences and a chance to immerse yourself in the vibrant arts scene of Perth.
Here are some of the random highlights. For a full list, go to the the Fringe website!
KEVIN KOPFSTEIN – HAUNTED
Friday 24th January – Sunday 16th February (excluding Tuesdays) 8.45pm -The Brass Monkey – Downstairs Williams Room
Scottish Storyteller and Paranormalist presents his Fringe World premiere!
Kevin Kopfstein is bringing his ghostly tales and collection of hauntiques to The Brass Monkey for Fringe World 2025. An international festival veteran, Kopfstein has been entertaining audiences across the globe for over 30 years.
Haunted was a complete sell out at Adelaide Fringe 2024.
“I can’t wait for Perth audiences to experience Haunted for themselves,” said Kopfstein. “I’ve been collecting bizarre objects connected to the supernatural for many years now, and they all have a fascinating story to tell.”
From an 1800’s Vampire Hunting Kit, Voodoo Doll, Cemetery Padlock, and even a child’s Haunted Doll. You’ll hear their spooky stories and experience chills, thrills, and contact with the spirits. It’s not for the faint hearted!
“A perfect storyteller, who might just give us nightmares.” ***** Weekend Notes 2024
“Freakishly fun!” ***** Scenester 2024
– Haunted
AN EVENING WITHOUT KATE BUSH
PERFORMED BY SARAH-LOUISE YOUNG, MADE WITH RUSSELL LUCAS
Tuesday 28 Jan – Sunday 2nd Feb – State Theatre Centre of WA – Rehearsal Room 1
Howl with the Hounds of Love and dance on the moors with Wuthering Heights!
This smash-hit cabaret-style homage, makes its triumphant return to Australian stages in 2025, featuring the unparalleled talents of the multi-award-winning performer, Sarah-Louise Young. An Evening Without Kate Bush pays glorious tribute to the music, fans, and mythology of one of the most influential voices in pop music.
“Spellbinding” The Daily Telegraph ★★★★★ (Critics’ Choice)
With inventive stage-craft, a wildly wonderful voice and mesmerising performance from Sarah-Louise Young, the show – based on years of Bush-related research – delves into the phenomenal fan base (known as Fish People) that Kate Bush has inspired since she first topped the UK charts in 1978.
“Re-inventing the tribute act” The Stage ★★★★★
Whether you’ve been a fan for decades or recently joined the shoal via ‘Stranger Things’, there has never been a better time to release your inner Bush and celebrate at this joyful, unique and mind-blowing show.
“You don’t need to be a Kate Bush fan to be transported into something very special” Scotsman ★★★★
Following its sold-out, critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe runs, two Soho Theatre seasons, 2020-2023 UK tours, and a successful Australia-New Zealand tour in 2023, a sold out shows at Sydney Festival and Adelaide Fringe, plus multiple Queensland venues, An Evening Without Kate Bush returns to our shores in 2025 as part of an extensive Australia-New Zealand tour.
Tickets: fringeworld.com.au
For full tour schedule please visit www.withoutkatebush.com.
Twitter: @withoutkatebush Facebook: www.facebook.com/WithoutKateBush/
BRIEFS FACTORY RETURNS TO FRINGEWORLD 2025 – KNICKERS and JEALOUSSS
Brace yourselves, Perth! Fringe darlings and global sensations Briefs Factory are back, making their grand return to Fringeworld 2025 with their most electrifying season yet. As part of the nationwide Backtrack Tour, Briefs Factory is taking over the west coast like never before, bringing not one, but two dazzling shows to Perth this summer, each promising an unforgettable experiexnce for audiences.
This year, Briefs Factory takes their performers on the road—literally—with a tour bus journey across Australia, adding an extra dose of excitement and adventure to their usual fanfare. The Briefs Backtrack Tour hits Perth as a highlight of Fringeworld 2025, with the troupe rolling in with performances that celebrate their unique blend of burlesque, cabaret, circus, and all-out spectacle.
Opening Weekend: KNICKERS 17 – 19 January
The season kicks off with the premiere of KNICKERS, a brand-new production that brings all the sass, talent, and heart that fans have come to love. KNICKERS is a fearless, all-female affair that flips the script on traditional cabaret and showcases some of the worlds most powerful performers. It’s a show designed to celebrate strength, individuality, and the electric energy of sisterhood—perfectly suited for audiences looking to experience something bold, unapologetically authentic, ridiculous and refreshingly empowering.
JEALOUSSS Premiere 22 January – 16 February
After the 3 night only season of Knickers, Briefs Factory will unleash JEALOUSSS, a high-octane mix of circus, drag, and the fiercest burlesque acts imaginable. JEALOUSSS is a fever-pitched exploration of envy, seduction, and skill—presented with the troupe’s signature irreverence and a triple-shot of intensity. With a name that demands an extra SSS, JEALOUSSS pushes boundaries and promises a spectacle that audiences won’t soon forget. It’s a relentless, sensorial overload that invites Perth to step into the world of envy and revel in its most deliciously provocative form.
MEL MCGLENSEY IS MOTORBOAT
Part woman. Part boat. Full clown.
Feb 1 – 16th 2024 – The Pleasure Garden – The Parlour, 21:10
A raucous, boundary-pushing comedian, Mel McGlensey now brings her latest work to the 2024 Fringe World Festival in Perth.McGlensey, who has been described as “a voice of wonder” by Corr Blimey, “smart, funny, bold and fearless” by Lilithia Reviews and “A truly funny and likable entertainer” by Beat Magazine, isfresh off a successful, multi Award–winning, rave–reviewed tour of her brand new show MOTORBOAT at Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy International Comedy Festival, Hollywood Fringe, London Clown Fest and Melbourne Fringe. During this time Mel and her MOTORBOAT received a Weekly Award for Best Comedy, a Hollywood Fringe Tour Award, a Golden Gibbo nomination and the overall Best Comedy Award at Adelaide Fringe.
★★★★ “Mel McGlensey’s hour of nautical nonsense is a glorious feat of clowning.” – The Age
In Mel McGlensey is MOTORBOAT, McGlensey sets off in a new direction by artfully mixing clown, physical comedy, burlesque and character improv to bring you the silliest, sexiest, naughty and nautical show ever made about someone who is part woman and part boat.
“MOTORBOAT is an entire show born out of a stupid, silly little bit I started doing while studying at clown school in France,” explains McGlensey. “I got onstage and pretended to be a boat that needed the audience’s help to ‘start my motor.’ Crowds loved it. It was so popular that people began calling me the ‘Motorboat Mel’ and quoting my own bits back to me. I decided to make an entire hour-long show out of it and here we are. I can’t wait to bring MOTORBOAT back to Melbourne, where it all began.”
Directed by award-winning theatre maker, physical comedian, cabaret chanteuse and director Sharney Nougar
(Two Little Dickheads, ‘Smashed Arvo’). Sharney was the Inspiration Award Winner of Prague Fringe 2014 (Performer/Creator), Best Comedy Show at Perth Fringe 2018 (Director) and Best Musical Direction Green Room Award Winner (Performer/Devisor) for the show Glittergrass.
Melissa McGlensey is a writer (The Onion, Reductress) and comedian (Soothplayers: Improvised Shakespeare, The Big HooHaa, The Briefing) who relocated from the US to Melbourne in 2016. She has studied, performed, and taught improv and stand-up comedy all over the world. Her work is often political, absurd, silly and interactive. MOTORBOAT is her clown debut, following her recent studies at renowned clown school, Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France.
Joe White: Ethiopian & Still Not Hungry 2025
Joe White, star of Channel 10’s reality TV show “Hunted – A Million Dollar Heist,” has also been featured on Just For Laughs at the Opera House, Australia’s Got Talent, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, and Sunrise on Seven. He is a four-time Best Comedy Weekly award winner at previous FRINGE WORLD events.
With sold-out shows at the world’s largest arts festival, Edinburgh Fringe, and across Canada and Australia, Joe White has been dubbed “Australia’s answer to Trevor Noah” by the renowned New York Post
A regular on the Australian comedy circuit, Joe White is one of the most exciting new comedians to watch. His style of comedy leaves the audience wanting more. Joe’s ability to tell a story and make it funny is unmatched, and his quick wit puts him ahead of his peers.
Not to be missed!
Please note that sessions at the Kalamunda Hotel run for 60 minutes
Rose Bishop: Clap If You’re Mad At Me
A stand-up comedy show about cats, confidence, and the mortifying ordeal of being seen, from one of Melbourne’s most exciting up-and-coming comedians. Come see the show! But no worries if not!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Rose Bishop is a dark-edged, natural comedy storyteller” Celia Pacquola (Thank God You’re Here)
“Brilliant” ★★★★ The Music, 2019
“A joyful master of getting into the darkest of jokes with gleeful innocence” Scenestr, 2024
“Well-structured storytelling and confident delivery makes for an impressive debut” The Age, 2023
“Incredibly relatable and hilarious throughout… You will love this show” Mel Live, 2023
Conrad Koch: Despicable Hehe
Deadly funny and monstrous laughs, this roller coaster ride of puppets and comedy will have you LOLing in the aisles. Conrad Koch, South Africa’s double International EMMY nominated comedy ventriloquist, brings his latest hour of hilarity. Including celebrity South African TV puppet, Chester Missing, Mr Dixon, high school teacher, Hilton, party ostrich; Gunter, the German mosquito & the world’s most dangerous dummy; Vladimir Putin, Vampire; and DJ Hoodie, the musical maniac. They will even turn your friend into a talking chicken live on stage. With over 130 million views on TikTok alone, this is not to be missed.
“Frenzied hilarity” ★★★★ The List, 2022
“My face hurt from laughing so hard” ★★★★★ CBC, 2018
“utter delight” ★★★★★ OUTinPerth, 2019
★★★★★ Winnipeg Free Press, 2018
Adults Only Magic Show
‘An Absolute Riot!’ ★★★★★ Edinburgh Theatre Weekly
Prepare for a wild and raunchy, adults-only night of magic and comedy with Sam, Justin, and Magnus ‘Danger’ Magnus. They’ll unleash uproarious humour and mind-bending illusions from their worldwide stage experience, spiced with a dash of cheeky nudity!
WINNER – Best Magic Show, Adelaide Fringe Weeklies 2021, 2023
‘Nowhere Better to go this Fringe!’ ★★★★★ The Wee Review
‘If I could give it more than 5 stars, I definitely would!’ ★★★★★ One4ReviewUK
‘Simply the BEST, most entertaining magic I’ve ever seen in real life, on TV, or anywhere’ ★★★★★ Lisa in the Theatre
Join us for an unforgettable evening of pure entertainment, featuring two of the best magicians in the business in a fringe-favourite that will not soon be forgotten!
