Thursday August 6th 2026
John-Luke Roberts (photo by Natasha Pszenicki)
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
John-Luke Roberts has returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with his first brand new show in four years, ‘What I Talk About When I Run About Talking‘, diving into his health scares and his fear of facing mortality head on.
Despite the bizarre show name, John-Luke Roberts provides a refreshing down to earth comedy style that feels more like a meaningful conversation with the audience rather than an on stage performance. Bouncing off the crowd and allowing himself to be vulnerable, the clown turned comedian creates a genuine performance that creatively discusses serious topics in a hilarious manner.
Circling these serious topics, such as mortality, illness and mental health issues, with a happy go-lucky attitude, John-Luke brings light to life’s darkest realities, centring his show around his therapist’s advice ‘to face mortality’.
Described as his ‘purest stand-up hour to date’, his new show strips back his usual clown theatrics and creates a simply entertaining comedy hour, seamlessly blending traditional stand-up and storytelling with his absurdist sensibilities and poetry.
Well decorated in the Fringe community and receiving much recognition throughout his career, the UK-based comedian, writer and director is displaying his multi-verse talent at this year’s festival, playing a show that simply shows his comedy talent and humour but with a theatrical twist that allows him to command the stage whilst making the audience feel involved.
Playing in a small room in Monkey Barrel Comedy Club, John-Luke makes everyone feel involved without being up in your face and demanding participation like many other stand-ups.
Discussing his OCD then blaming it on goblins controlling his mind, then talking nicely about his parents then partially blaming them for mental health issues, his back and forth and slightly manic nature only adds to his comedy style, creatively jumping back to previous jokes throughout the whole performance.
Without giving too much of his comedy magic away, he doesn’t hit too many punchline jokes but has the ability to make storytelling funny with a returning segment throughout his performance being his poetry. Explaining that he used poetry as an outlet when life got at its lowest, he uses his poetry talent in his show to both add context and further laughs, reciting meaningful yet unhinged poems throughout the show.
Despite being a new show, John-Luke Roberts ‘What I Talk About When I Run About Talking’, shows exactly what Fringe comedy is about, creating simple laughs with a twist of pure artistic talent and using comedy to sugar coat serious life issues that we all face.
John-Luke Roberts is a 5/5 performance with his 2026 Fringe performance showing no signs of rust or being unprepared. Must see at this year’s festival.
