Edinburgh Festival 2023: Michelle Brasier’s Fringe show in doubt after comedian’s luggage goes missing

Australian comedian Michelle Brasier, who is set to perform her award-winning show at the Edinburgh Fringe on Wednesday (August 2), has been left stranded ahead of the opening night after her luggage containing thousands of pounds worth of musical equipment has gone missing.

The Aussie star, along with partner Tim Lancaster and backing musician Jordan White, arrived in the Capital from Amsterdam on July 29, and despite AirTags on their belongings showing they are in situ at Edinburgh Airport, the trio have not been given an update on when they can expect their equipment.

The musical comedy act is now scrambling to find alternative instruments in time for their show, Reform, which is set to start at 7pm at Gilded Balloon tomorrow. The trio will need to locate a guitar, a trombone, guitar pedals, a full electronic drum kit and a computer ahead of their show which tells ‘a cautionary tale of an online scam’ and has been described as ‘a theatrical hour of storytelling and music.’

Michelle said: “A lovely man who worked at the airport tried to help us but he didn’t have the authority to go and get our bags for us. Our AirTags were showing the bags were 50 metres from us. We begged, ‘please just let us go grab them, they’re right there! We just wanna do our little show!’ But he wasn’t allowed to, and wasn’t able to go and get anyone with more authority to help us.”

She added: “I get that everyone has systems they have to follow, but surely there has to be some common sense used too. This kind of system problem is what happens when you remove real people and we can only communicate with chat bots.”

Michelle said she has contacted aviation company Swissport who handle baggage at Edinburgh Airport but has not received a response and added that KLM Airlines, who they travelled with from Amsterdam, told her they will be delivered once the bags are located but Michelle said ‘we’ve found them – they have been at the airport for three days.

Michelle said: “I absolutely understand that airport staff are overworked and stressed, but our AirTags show our bags and instruments have been sitting there for three days now. It’s clear the staff on the ground at Edinburgh Airport need more support. We have emailed, called, Facebook-messaged, Instagram-ed – I even dueted the airline on TikTok to try to get our instruments before the show starts tomorrow!”

The Aussie comedian, who voiced several characters in new adult animated comedy series Koala Man, starring Hugh Jackman, said because the team flew with Etihad from Australia and it was only the last leg of the trip that was with KLM, there has been confusion between the two companies as to whose responsibility tracking down the bags is, and which booking number should be used to track them.

With just 24 hours before show is set to begin its run from August 2-27, Michelle said other artists have been very generous and local musicians have offered to help where they can. Michelle said: “The spirit of the fringe is so lovely. We feel really supported and just hope we don’t open the show tomorrow in our new Primark Sponge Bob undies we just bought jet lagged and confused on our way home from the airport”.

A spokesperson for Swissport said: "We are sincerely sorry to hear about these passengers' experience and recognise how frustrating it is. We are in direct contact with Michelle and her team and are working hard to reunite them with their luggage."