STARBURST first saw Tartan Tabletop back in 2023, and we were delighted by the show even though it was a little bit rough around the edges. In the intervening years, the Tartan Tabletop team have toured a lot and has performed their unique style of Dungeons and Dragons and improv comedy to many, many audiences across the world. And it really shows. Or to put it another way, they’re gotten rather very good. And are very funny.
A lot of the larger, more popular improv comedy fantasy roleplaying shows tend to have their own coherent world and setting, and this works because those games have a massive following and actual books filled with lore specific to them. Tartan Tabletop has stopped trying to emulate this practice, and instead, each show appears to be its own little adventure. Meaning that anyone can enjoy the show with minimal preparation. All you really need to know is that the crew are making up a story as they go along, and that dice are used to make things seem a bit fairer.
Joshua Aitken takes on the critical role as Dungeon Master, and countless hours of handling chaotic comedians coming up with ridiculous plans have made him nigh unflappable. A good DM is both incredibly well prepared and also happy to improvise at the drop of a hat. Joshua steers the show in a cool and clever way, energising everyone else’s nonsense with a combination of stoicism and wit. The pre-planning is superb, weaving fixed gags in with improv. The energy is contagious, meaning that everyone ends up laughing. Pure joy.
The result is something that is steadily and reliably funny. Good, regular D&D stage shows are actually quite hard to find, and Tartan Tabletop seems to have discovered a formula that makes something like this consistently fun. Glorious geeky fun for everyone. Smashing stuff.
You can find tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe run here, and find out more about future shows here.
