Tasmin Sarkany is a musical comedian taking her debut show Tasmin Sarkany: Now That’s What I Call Bach! to the Edinburgh Fringe this year. She was shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2025, won third prize in West End New Act of the Year in 2024, was a finalist in the Musical Comedy Awards in 2023, and her stand-up and sketch videos have gathered more than a million views online. She was also a semi-finalist for the Funny Women Stage Award in 2022 and 2025.
How did you get into comedy?
Specifically for this show, it goes back all the way to when I started the violin at age four. I played in a lot of youth orchestras as a teenager and absolutely loved the thrill of performing on stage. On the side I also consumed a lot of vintage comedy that my parents used to watch. I particularly remember a record of Bob Newhart’s stand-up and watching Not the Nine O’Clock News.
When I was at university I suddenly realised that I could actually have a go at writing comedy and gave it a go! I wrote some quite bad stand-up for a bit, and then had the idea of incorporating some classical music. From there the act kind of took on a life of its own and eventually developed into this show!
Tell us about your comedy style.
I would say my comedy style’s alternative, but in a light way, like an eccentric aunt who wears silly hats for no reason or sings funny songs while doing the washing up. It’s very clean and a bit offbeat with a vintage feel to it, and of course there’s lots of music!
I would say the most unique thing about my act is that music itself can be a punchline. In fact, Violin plays a lot of the punchlines in the show rather than me saying them! I like to play with blending music and words in an unexpected way and explore how music is, in its own mysterious way, a language that can preserve emotions across time and space.
What is your show about?
Tasmin Sarkany: Now That’s What I Call Bach! is a spoof classical concert where I play Amelia Crotchet, a classical musician recently fired from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and desperate to make a comeback. This concert of Bach’s Chaconne for solo violin is her attempt at redemption, but there’s a twist: Amelia’s violin is sentient and can talk to her through music. Between discussions about Amelia and Violin’s relationship, stories from Amelia’s (not very) sordid past and why Pingu would make a great opera character, the question remains: will they manage to play Bach’s masterpiece before the hour is up?
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Everywhere really! Sometimes the most random things I see in videos online or in conversation inspire me because I think it’s something my character might say. I also get really inspired by music: currently I’m listening to a lot of Oscar Peterson’s jazz piano, and of course I always have some classical on my playlists!
Comedically, my biggest inspirations are Victoria Wood, Victor Borge, Dudley Moore and Bill Bailey. I was also really inspired by Nina Conti and her ventriloquism act, which gave me the idea to talk to my own violin. I also get really inspired by basically every live comedy show I go to, there’s nothing quite like it!
Who are the funny women you would recommend seeing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
Caitriona Dowden is one of my favourite comedians, and she’s doing a really cool show this year called Sesh Head about Irish folk music where she plays the harp on stage, it’s going to be epic and hilarious! Jess Carrivick is taking her debut show back up to the Fringe this year, I saw it in London a few months ago and it was so funny and moving, I would really recommend it.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Han Whyte, Isabelle Glinn and Davina Bentley’s shows as they’re such great character comedians, and I also can’t wait to see Elf Lyons’s new show, I saw Horses two years ago and it was fantastic.
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Tickets and information for Tasmin Sarkany: Now That’s What I Call Bach! can be found here!
