Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

John Tothill had the most perfect comic persona right out of the traps: a companionable, camp bon vivant, gloriously combining a generous spirit with low-rent hedonism. 

On stage, he’s the real-life incarnation of Colin Hoult’s much-missed comedy character Anna Mann, gregariously gushing about everyone’s fabulousness and being such a consummate host that we’re all promised ‘small plates’ later. His uplifting response to almost everyone – even the girl rudely scrolling through her phone in the front row – is ‘don’t ever change!’

Tothill’s role model is Edward Dando, a drunk, gluttonous criminal of the Georgian-era. The comic loves the way he  followed his instincts, and stomach, to live his life whatever the consequences.

However much he’d like to follow suit, the foppish wine-guzzling comic is hampered by stark realities such as having to work. Which is how he found himself on a cruise ship where the superannuated audience  hated him to an hilarious intensity. Recalling this nightmare is one of many stories that divert him from his stated aim of talking about Dando. 

Other routines call for the preservation of the everyday civility of small talk – playing right into his wheelhouse of good manners – and the esoteric matter of the Margate Crab Museum. 

He leaps nimbly between the topics in this engaging conversational set, sometimes directly involving the crowd. His set is peppered with witty jokes and asides – his extension of the ‘if I had a pound for every time…’ cliché is inventive genius – and references that are erudite but proudly ill-researched. That such diligence would be beneath him plays perfectly into the rakish, ill-disciplined persona, which ensured his debut was one of the best-reviewed shows of the 2023 Fringe.

What should have been a triumphant return last year was derailed by a major health scare. As has been widely reported, Tothill suffered a burst appendix during the Fringe – after several days of painful denial – and had to cancel much of his run after having an emergency operation.

Quite how serious this was is brought home by his troubling account, with Tothill defiant to the last, insisting that nothing could ever be wrong with him. There’s something of a tonal shift here as he gets more sincere, focussed and personal than the caricature persona normally allows for, but we’re never far from a witty turn of phrase. And the moral of the story underpins Tothill’s message that he’s willing to suffer for his art. Whether his art is comedy or gluttony may be left for you to decide.

The world is full of indulgent riches on which to feast, and for comedy fans, Tothill’s show is among those sumptuous pleasures. 

Review date: 3 Aug 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard