Hat Trick Productions, the UK company behind Derry Girls and How to Get to Heaven From Belfast, is expanding into live comedy with a new touring arm launching at next month's Edinburgh Fringe. The venture is a partnership between Hat Trick, its scripted comedy producer Queenie Miller, and Margate-based live comedy producer Chump's Comedy, reflecting founder Jimmy Mulville's stated ambition to produce comedy "wherever people want to watch it – television, YouTube and in theatres."

The new arm debuts with shows including Freya Parker: An Hour of Decay!, Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love, and the play Amnesia by Kimberley Hart-Simpson. The launch coincides with the final year the Fringe will run alongside the Edinburgh TV Festival, which relocates to Greater Manchester from 2027, a move some industry figures, including Avalon's Jon Thoday, have criticised for potentially breaking the "alchemy" that has historically helped launch talent such as Richard Gadd and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Hat Trick recently also recruited former BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie as its Creative Director.