Now that’s what you call a one-man show
PLAYING to an empty house might be every performer’s nightmare.
But a Scottish comedian has become an overnight sensation after going ahead with his Fringe show despite only one person turning up.
Robin Grainger, from Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, decided to walk on stage to perform even though his technical operator told him that there was only one audience member.
The comedian has performed at Edinburgh’s Fringe before, but the show on Friday marked his return to the festival after the pandemic.
Now Grainger has been flooded with support on social media and ticket sales for subsequent Fringe shows have soared.
His show, entitled Robin Time, will be running until August 14, then again from August 16 to 28.
Mike Cass, who was the only person at the Friday show, posted on Twitter that he ‘loved’ it.
Mr Cass, from Leicester, said he would watch the show if the comic still wanted to perform, and later said he ‘laughed so hard’. Grainger told BBC Scotland: ‘I had been busy doing guest spots, exit flyering, the things you do during the day at the Fringe, and hadn’t checked ticket sales.
‘I’m an optimistic guy, it was the first Friday – everyone was tweeting about busy audiences.
‘I thought it would be fine. My lovely tech operator Eric came to give me my two-minute warning and I asked how it was looking, and he winced. He said: “There’s one.” I thought, he had paid his ticket and I’ve got a microphone and an ego, so I went for it. I did different stuff – it was a lot more convivial than my normal show.
‘I did a lot of ad-libs, I wrote a lot of it there on the stage. I tried to tailor it to Mike, really.
‘He was really laughing. Afterwards, I was outside a bit flustered and he came out and he was crying, laughing, and he gave me a hug and he said, “That was brilliant”.’
The artist, who has performed in Cape Town and Berlin and has been hand-picked for multiple Kevin Bridges and Friends shows, said his performance on Saturday was now ‘a couple of seats away from a sell-out’.
Scottish actress and critic Kate Copstick heard Grainger ‘giving it laldy’ while waiting to see Ryan Cullen at The Stand and took to social media after hearing he only had one audience member.
She posted: ‘Last night I went to see Ryan Cullen at The Stand. I got there a wee bit early and listened to the show before his, Robin Grainger, who was, as we say in Scotland, giving it laldy.
‘It sounded great. The FOH (front of house) crew told me he had only one person in. Total respect and liking for a comic that can do that.’