Luke Rollason is best known for his shape-shifting character in the Disney+ superhero comedy Extraordinary. He is very well cast in this role, as his latest show at Edinburgh shows that he has shape-shifting powers in real life as well, as he flits from character to character in his latest performance, Let Your Hair Down. He’s also a skilled physical comedian, which is a fancy way of saying he’s a trained clown (in the sense that, say, Rowan Atkinson or Bruce Campbell is a clown, but there’s no white face paint in this show). He is very good at making you laugh without saying a word, which combines with an astounding sense of spoken stand-up comedy that makes his new show very funny indeed.
Let Your Hair Down is essentially a series of absurd skits strung together roughly around the fairy tale of Rapunzel. Luke does not have long hair to let down, but he has plenty of toilet rolls and some interesting choices when changing costumes. This show features an awful lot of toilet paper; we can only assume that Rollason has a warehouse somewhere or perhaps intends to have enough of the stuff to survive any coming apocalypse.
The plot, such as it is, involves becoming a king (or queen) of sorts in a world determined to make sure that you don’t become much of anything. In a way, it’s the flip side of another physical comedy show at the Fringe, Elf Lyon’s Horses. Whereas that show is about childhood’s end, this show is about coming into one’s own power and acknowledging who you now are, but, you know, in a funny way.
Luke’s remarkable chimerical skill keeps the audience enthralled throughout. If you ever wanted to actually roll on the floor laughing, this is the show for you.
You can book here and find future tour information here.
