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Dr Hailey Austin (Abertay University) undresses the secret origins of superhero comics, revealing how 19th-century nude photography and 1920s erotic pulp magazines created iconic superhero characters like Superman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, and influenced their revealing spandex costumes. Dr Jo Thor (The University of Edinburgh) journeys from Annie Lobert’s Hookers for Jesus ministry in modern Las Vegas to Victorian Scotland’s Magdalene asylums – prayer, work, refuge. Were they pioneering social care for prostitutes, or moral control? What should we borrow today?
This is an archived listing from the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Provocateurs: Superhero Porn / Hookers for Jesus is by The Provocateurs, listed under Spoken Word in the Fringe programme. It plays at The Stand Comedy Club 3 & 4, 28 York Place, EH1 3EP, 27 August.
The show runs 60 minutes and is suitable for ages 14+. Tickets are £12.