Hit shows from Edinburgh's Fringe festival are coming to America. Here are our top picks

Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonard-Hopper are the duo the behind the musical Hole!, coming to New York this December. Chewboy hide caption

EDINBURGH — For nearly a month, Edinburgh has been overrun by performers, posters, packed rooms — and some very strange ideas.

The Edinburgh Fringe comes to a close Monday, wrapping up the monthlong performing arts festival that has become a proving ground for some of theater's riskiest, weirdest and most original work. Sometimes, those experiments escape the festival entirely and go on to become global cultural phenomena. (Looking at you, Fleabag and Baby Reindeer .)

This year, more than 4,200 shows descended on Edinburgh, with artists hailing from 74 countries.

NPR did its research — making its way through roughly 40 of them.

That meant testing out theater in a 200 degree Fahrenheit sauna. A musical about a Nebraska-based butt plug wearing cult. And clowns. So many clowns. A surprising (or perhaps not so surprising?) number of them naked.

We've rounded up some of the best performances from this year's Fringe that are headed to the United States — plus a few more worth keeping on your radar.

Jake Brasch plays the keyboards and Nadja Leonard-Hopper controls the sound effects as the stars of the musical Hole! Chewboy hide caption