Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

The premise of Will Spence’s one-man show is simple and very much explained in the title: Chris Martin told us everything was yellow - but he was lying.  

To say the piece involves Spence doing eight versions of the Coldplay song is both accurate and very little to do with what’s joyful, charming and playfully unhinged about his performance. 

His debut hour-long piece is one of those ‘only at the Fringe’ experiences that leaves one in no doubt that ‘you can just make a show about anything,' as one audience member, who was still laughing as he left, was heard saying. Spence proves this emphatically. 

Spence, a bearded, long-haired Gaulier-trained clown and comedian based in London, is a funny little man. He cuts an amiable character as he wanders around at the start of the show, greeting the audience as they take their seats. In a yellow bucket hat, flowery shirt, brown suit and tie, he looks a little like a bedraggled weatherman on holiday... or a conspiracy theorist.

The show weaves together found footage of Chris Martin with various slides, taking the audience through the rainbow in an effort to prove its titular theory. The big laughs come from some well-placed one-liners, committed physicality and dance moves. More than anything, it is Spence's utter commitment to his subject matter and performance that makes it work.

A wild-eyed performer, he holds space well, reassuring the audience that he knows the show is weird. He moves around the stage effectively and peppers the show with set pieces that seem just close enough to going wrong that it maintains its urgency. 

There are some on-stage outfit changes, and Spence played off a wardrobe malfunction - getting stuck in his morph suit after his hair jammed the zip - comfortably.

The footage is woven into the show and there is some seated audience participation which the crowd took on well and got some big laughs.  A plot emerges and is brought together without being too forced or distracting. 

Considering that the piece is illustrated throughout with props and slides and movement, the final section is a little too reliant on the audience’s imagination. However, Spence carries it off with absolute assuredness and passion.

Sitting at the back, there are some issues with sightlines during a section of the show that relies heavily on some on-screen text, and the sound seemed a bit low on a couple of important videos, which was a shame.

The show is not for everyone though. An audience member who walked out during the performance said she felt it was ‘hackish' and it seemed like he didn’t know what he was doing - perhaps a badge of honour for a clown. Her two friends, who stayed throughout, both loved it and laughed uncontrollably. 

A great hour, particularly for anyone who has strong feelings about the song Yellow by Coldplay.

Review date: 10 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: John Simpson
Reviewed at: Underbelly Cowgate