The Mumble have always been at the forefront of cultural surveying, & have finally perfected their reviewing system for the Edinburgh Fringe 2026
It’s taken over 10 years, but in 2026 The Mumble are ready to give the most accurate & honest reviews at the Fringe, or anywhere.
We know star ratings can be a bit… well, vague.
How can two five-star shows be completely different? Why does one reviewer give something three stars while another hands out five? And what if a show is technically brilliant but you simply don’t enjoy it?
That’s why we’ve decided to do things a little differently.
Rather than giving every show a single score and leaving you to guess why, we break our reviews down into five categories, each scored out of five stars. That gives every show a total score out of 25, which is then converted into our overall star rating.
It means you can see why a show scored the way it did, not just the final number.
Comedy
When we’re reviewing comedy, we’re looking at:
Material – Are the jokes original, well-written and cleverly put together?
Delivery – Timing, stage presence, confidence and how well the comedian performs.
Room Laughs – How the audience reacts. Is the room laughing consistently or are there long silences?
Funniness – Did we actually find it funny? Sometimes a room erupts and we don’t get it. Sometimes it’s the other way round.
Amiability – This is the personal one. Spending an hour with a comedian matters. Some acts are brilliantly funny but impossible to warm to. Others are incredibly likeable even if every joke doesn’t quite land. This score reflects how enjoyable they are to spend time with.
Theatre
For theatre, the categories change slightly.
Script – The quality of the writing, dialogue and storytelling.
Performance – The acting, character work and chemistry between the cast.
Stagecraft – Direction, lighting, sound, set design, costumes and the overall production.
Suspension of Disbelief – Did we forget we were watching a play? Great theatre completely draws you into its world.
Enjoyment – Sometimes a production is technically exceptional but never quite connects emotionally. Other times a show has rough edges but leaves you grinning all the way home. This score reflects the experience as a whole.
So… what do the stars mean?
Each category is scored out of five.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing – We couldn’t have asked for much more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very Good – Excellent work with only minor flaws.
⭐⭐⭐ Good – A strong performance that we’d happily recommend.
⭐⭐ Average – Some good ideas, but it doesn’t quite come together.
⭐ Poor – Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us.
No stars Terrible – We really can’t recommend it.
How does that become an overall rating?
Once we’ve scored the five categories, we simply add them together.
23–25 points → ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
18–22 points → ⭐⭐⭐⭐
13–17 points → ⭐⭐⭐
8–12 points → ⭐⭐
Below 8 points → ⭐
More Than Just Stars
At the end of the day, no review system is perfect because art is subjective.
This one simply gives you a better picture than a single star rating ever could.
You might care more about brilliant writing than spectacular staging. You might love a comedian with razor-sharp material even if they’re a little prickly. Someone else might feel exactly the opposite.
By showing you the breakdown as well as the overall score, you can decide what matters most to you.
After all, reviews aren’t about telling you what to think—they’re about helping you decide what to see. That’s the Mumble way.
