ANDREW WHITE: What A Life! ★★★★

Andrew White’s What A Life! is a warm, upbeat celebration of living life to the full – and, intriguingly, of dying happy. With a well-crafted storyline and plenty of genuine laughter, Andrew takes us from his precocious childhood, when he wore a kimono and befriended Jonathan, autistic, 60 and the town Jester, to growing up in an Irish Catholic family where his mother’s superstitions about everything coming in threes included death.

His mother's mordant fascination with televised murder mysteries, leads us to thwarted plans for assisted dying and a wonderfully glitzy living wake, complete with celebrant – who turns out to be unqualified. Along the way, we hear about Andrew’s 70% success rate with parking fines, as a result of his refund mantra of “call kind” and adverb packed “email frenzy”.

A poignant section recalls comedian friend Gareth Richards, whose life moved from Christian conversion therapy to happiness before his tragic death in a car crash. The brilliant eulogies about celebrating life by living it, lead to a delightful musical surprise. The audience loved it.

Monkey Barrel, at Edinburgh Fringe: August 2026 ©RoxyReviews