By Nick A. Zaino III Globe correspondent, Updated May 8, 2026, 7:00 a.m.
Boston Fringe cofounders Deby Xiadani and Anton Monteleone enjoy a good surprise. The second edition of the Fringe, which includes 40 acts and takes place May 11-17 around Davis Square, is heavy on comedy shows, but not necessarily traditional stand-up. There will be clowning, magic, and musical parody. And a selection of shows not going exclusively for laughs, from dance and drama to indie rock.
“Boston is such a huge comedy scene and comedy community,” said Xiadani, speaking by Zoom with Monteleone, “but we do allocate space for musicals and specifically for, like, variety shows, like magic, or something that’s different. Comedy has the most specific slots, but we did make sure to keep a variety so that we’re not just entirely doing a comedy festival.”
They also haven’t seen any of the acts. “Deby’s got her own piece, and I’m directing one musical piece,” said Monteleone. “So outside of those two, we got no idea what’s coming.”
The submission process is a combination of first-come-first-served and a lottery system. Some of the acts were just a sketch of an idea when the performers submitted them in November. “That’s what part of the beauty of it is,” said Monteleone. “You can submit your show and just have the loose idea get accepted and say, OK, I got five months now to make this show happen. So we expect some of that, some like brand new, hot off the desk, finishing rehearsals the week before.”
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