Edinburgh Fringe theatre review

The premise couldn’t be simpler.  In the table-tennis showdown of the century, ‘America’s golden paddle boy’ Don Toberman is to take on the entire audience in one decisive match. But is that too simple an idea to sustain an hour?

The creation of Gaulier-trained comedian Chase Brantley, Toberman is an alpha-male Will Ferrell-style  spoof, all performative showmanship and explosive rock-track intros.

It forms part of a wider mockery of the Americanisation of sports, with over-the-top commentary, intrusive sponsorship and half-time spectacle –  Brantley again, doing a full-on Maniac-from-Flashdance routine. Though to call this a parody would suggest a satirical intent, when the whole purpose is to muck around. 

Skilfully inviting the whole audience in on the joke, Brantley plays point after point against different members of the crowd – each opponent asked to return the serve with the satisfying ‘pak’ of ball on bat. 

The structure is repetitive by design, with elements such as fist- and chest-bumping the ballboy to start each rally performed time and again with minor variation. For me, the show struggled to get over the hump when such repetition moves from familiar to funny, but others were more readily on board. 

Toberman wins his first points easily, before taking a wobble induced by the dodgy energy drink he necks, opening up a gap for the audience to take control, in the usual emotive to-and-fro arc of any good – or bad –  sports movie. 

Brantley is a committed physical performer, roaring through the hour’s many demands while being able to temper his commanding alter-ego with enough of a softer side that the audience trust him enough to join it.

Sideshows to the main event add a lot, especially the cutaway to a diving competition in which the artistic grace and precision of that activity is rendered amusingly clumsily. And in the second half of the show the points are decided neither by ping nor pong, but by an increasingly elaborate series of silly games, a welcome break from the formula. 

Like most clown shows, play is at the heart of this hour, with the audience invited to contribute as much as they feel comfortable, from table-side commentary to meatier roles. One game punter stepped up as a particularly significant father figure tonight. 

Guest stars from across the Fringe play the ref Maximus Fairington (Max Norman this time), sidekicks and mystery guests. Steff Haanes’ cameos as his spooky caped creation The Master, stealing this show in a way anyone who’s seen him in Stamptown will recognise, with Charlie Mulliner and Lil Wenker also joining in the shenanigans. Everyone’s having fun, which is the sole point of the exercise.

• Don Toberman: Ping-Pong Champ is on at Pleasance Courtyard Bunker Two at 13:30

Review date: 19 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard