John Luke Roberts: John-Luke-A-Palooza!

5 stars ~

Monkey Barrel 4, Edinburgh Fringe ~

John Luke Roberts starts his show, after a bit of 'business' to get his audience into the mood he needs, by proposing that Edith Piaf regretted five things.

The show has no storytelling or narrative arc, being fundamentally about innumerable variations of a world like our own and how they differ in bizarre or nonsensical ways, which are naturally humorous, insightful and continually produce laughter.  We are treated to comments about kangaroos, mountaineers, oranges not being the only fruit, bagels, DJs, Morrissey and mayonnaise.  Some set pieces are longer, riffing on cowboys, hadron colliders and vacuum cleaners.  There is a song about spelling, and why acoustic guitars should be permanently fixed in the home of their owner, which leads to mention of Ringo Starr but not in relation to guitars.

Ending with a happy gag before going back to Piaf, he has all the while delivered skilfully. Callbacks involving responses from an enthusiastic audience holds the show together, demonstrating that he really does know his craft.  It is so well written that the brevity brought to each topic means it all hangs beautifully together, without any floundering or loss of focus.  Separate humorous thoughts on very disparate and unconnected themes stack back to back without any sign of one liners.

A lesser comedian would not be able to charm and bring the audience into this particular world with such confidence.  John Luke Roberts delivers his material with so much energy, belief and enthusiasm that it is hard not to giggle, guffaw and laugh with delight.

The show is demonstrably great fun for those who relish quick, quirky, random comedy, and there are few of this style at the Fringe that come close to ticking those boxes so competently.

Reviewed by RoxyReviews for One4Review on 10 Aug 2024