Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

In the Pleasance Courtyard, Garry Starr is making physical comedy based on great books. In the Dome, Luke Rollason’s doing the same, but for those who gave up reading at an early age –  since his skits are all based on fairy tales.

Maybe that’s because he now works for Disney, starring in their hit TV comedy Extraordinary, and we all know the Mouse House likes to make folk tales their own.

Rollason starts as a version of King Midas, in which everything he touches turns to comedy gold – which seems like a shameless attempt to make reviewers write phases like that to be taken out of context. But he does get laughs more or less out of nothing, just a touch of the microphone, for instance, thanks to the tension and the challenge he’s set up in the room and his physical performance chops.

He has the rubber face and flappy, gangly limbs of Rowan Atkinson in his heyday. If anyone’s reviving a live action ‘Son Of Bean’, he should be top of the casting call. His cartoonishly big eyes exude playful mischief, especially one-on-one when urging those who join him from the crowd to give him a response he can work with.

It’s the sort of muckabout audience participation clowning show that’s become a Fringe staple, and while Rollason doesn’t reinvent the genre, he’s an inventive and effective practitioner of it. And there is at least one excellent non-physical gag in there, too.

The fairytale thread allows the scenes to interlink, including The Princess and The Pea, Hansel And Gretel and The Ugly Duckling – a rare scene that’s Rollason alone, emiiting an adorable , rhythmic ‘cheep’. The mimes range from the sweet to the icky, and when we meet the actual egg that is Humpty Dumpty, his demise is assured, it’s just a matter of when.

The hour boasts a strong visual ethos, too. Fellow shoppers must have thought stockpiling was back when Rollason or his producer bought the toilet rolls required for the show. They form castle walls, Rapunzel’s flowing locks, clouds, biceps and more.

The father and son repairing broken bonds over We’re Going On A Bear Hunt suggests that there might be some underlying theme about parents accepting their children becoming adults, especially given Rapunzel’s overprotective dad and King Midas seeking an heir to relieve him of the curse. 

But don’t go looking too hard, this show reads just as well as ‘dumb stuff we did for an hour’ – and in Rollason's capable hands, that’s always fun.

Review date: 9 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Dome