Nightlife seems to be getting an earlier start these days. Between the rise of afternoon events, bottomless brunches and morning raves in coffee shops, maybe 2pm is the new 2am (including the messy kebab if that’s what you’re into). So Edinburgh’s newest comedy show, Laughternoon, could be the perfect event for those seeking amazing and funny line-ups but don’t want to wait until 9pm. Some of us have pilates in the morning!

The logistics of a big night out can get tricky and expensive, especially when you’ve got little ones. I spoke to someone who knows all about this, Laughternoon’s founder and host; the brilliant Sophie McCabe. As a comedian and single mum, Sophie has struggled to get out and test new jokes at existing open mic and new material nights and saw a gap in the market for new material shows in Edinburgh generally. So she’s taken it upon herself to change that with the help of Gilded Balloon.

‘I’m doing this for completely selfish reasons,’ she jokes. ‘But I also thought I would quite like to go to an afternoon show… I wonder if anyone else would like doing that. I didn’t see anyone else doing it.’ Sophie’s motivations behind starting Laughternoon are shared by the mother-daughter founders of Gilded Balloon, Karen and Katy Koren. ‘Karen was a single mum when she set up, so they’ve been very supportive of my career… so that’s why I wanted to use their venue,’ making The Gilded Saloon the perfect spot for Laughternoon.

But the more convenient start time and childcare considerations weren’t the only motivation for her: ‘The other reason I wanted to do it was to start another, more female and queer and Global Majority artist-heavy event.’ This can be seen as a welcome addition to a scene where these groups are still the token on a line-up, despite the wealth of talent that Scotland can boast. ‘I wanted to create another inclusive space – for audiences and… for performers.’

Despite the focus on those that might not have flexibility in the evenings, Laughternoon is for everyone, something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon! Have a coffee instead of a pint if that’s your vibe! For a flavour of what to expect, Sophie says that the only limit is what the venue can do with the tech. ‘It’s definitely open to different styles of performance… I wanted to make sure it was open to the musical comedians, the sketch comedians, the slightly alternative comedians, because there’s a wee bit less of that in the scene.’

The upcoming June show promises a fantastic line-up, including Matt MacDonald, Tia Rey, Eleanor Morton, and headliner Kate Hammer. Hosted every month by Sophie, ‘as the unstable, premenopausal female character which is myself,’ It looks to be an afternoon delight, with shows at least until this end of the year. Also watch this space for some potential Fringe shows!

Until then, get yourself to the Gilded Saloon at Teviot for a lovely afternoon of comedy and then, as Sophie says, ‘Do whatever you want with your evening, go home for Strictly Come Dancing! Or let the babysitter away or whatever you want to do.’

Laughternoon will return on Sat 6 June and Sat 11th Jul at The Gilded Saloon, Edinburgh.