Bumpo - Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026

When I was browsing the Fringe catalogue a few months ago, I wrote down that I had to catch Bumpo. All I had read was: “A codependent lesbian couple getting divorced must decide custody of their son: a dog-human-genetic-experiment-gone-horribly-right. Bumpo is a comedy about family and failure, and a tragedy about where hope can take you.”

If I had read on, I would have discovered the best part: Bumpo is a life-sized puppet. I did not even realise this until I saw the flyer recently, featuring a large blue dog-human creation staring back at me. What an absolute treat Bumpo is. Xhloe & Natasha aren’t the only New York performers in town with a puppet! 

Mahalet Tegenu and Franny Weed play Eileen and Sam, a couple navigating the final stages of their impending divorce. They still have a closeness between them as they tick off the practicalities of their separation, including the all-important question of who gets to keep their two Knocked Up DVDs. There is, however, a slightly larger issue to resolve. Custody of their son, Bumpo, the dog-human genetic experiment that somehow went horribly right.

Watching Chris Palmieri bring Bumpo to life is an absolute joy. There is something genuinely remarkable about how quickly you stop seeing the puppeteer and start seeing Bumpo. He is affectionate, inappropriate, funny and surprisingly perceptive, with some brilliant lines. The puppet never feels like a gimmick. Instead, it becomes the beating heart of the show, thanks to the extraordinary work of Palmieri, Tegenu and Weed in making this bizarre family feel completely believable.

The real strength of Bumpo is its humour, but particularly in the way everyone plays the absurdity completely straight. Nobody questions that Bumpo is there. Instead, the show simply accepts this strange reality and lets the comedy emerge from it.

Bumpo even begins to take on the role of couples counsellor to his parents. Beneath the ridiculous premise is a surprisingly tender exploration of family and failure. Bumpo is one of those Fringe treats that you really should go into knowing as little as possible, preferably without spoiling the fact that there is a very large blue puppet waiting for you.


Lee Hutchison

4/5

Runs at Greenside George Street until August 29th