At this point, it’s safe to say that John Robertson is both a comedy legend and an Edinburgh Festival Fringe must-see, thanks to his long-running, constantly sold-out show The Dark Room.
However, John’s talents stretch far beyond simply embodying everything wrong with text adventure video games for an international audience. And his shows that don’t involve the Dark Room routine are well worth checking out, such as his new show, Plays With The Audience.
His previous stand-up show, Human Hurricane, was a masterfully done crowd work focused affair with a little bit of stand-up and the odd bit of musical comedy thrown in for good measure. His new show is more stand-up focused and has more fun songs thrown in, with the crowd work smoothly integrated throughout.
Any prompt or environmental change can lead to a gag or one-liner, and the sheer energy of the show is remarkable. John exudes manic goblin energy throughout, as he teases and delights his audience. This is enhanced by the sheer physicality of it all; long blonde hair, tall, dark clothes. A goblin king turned prankster. Make no mistake; the core of this show is the comedian’s ability to interact with a crowd in a way that ensures that everyone is having fun.
Frantic, silly and fundamentally playful, this is an hour of watching one person explode repeatedly in bursts of creative frenzy. Robertson’s ability to read and adapt to the audience is amazing. The humour varies from incredibly childish pranking to serious food for thought, but in a way that feels smooth and normal.
At this stage, we do have to wonder why Robertson isn’t better known; this show is part of the Free Fringe and was well attended, and his appeal is very broad. He’s a good example as to why you broaden your horizons when looking for comedians to go and see, and not just settle for anyone who might have been on a recent episode of Taskmaster.
Crazy, fun stuff. Go see.
You can book tickets for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe show here, and find out more about future shows here and here.
