Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Four Monks discover a source of magical water that leads them into realms of dream and self-discovery, encountering some of life’s great rites and rituals - from birth to death to… nightclubs.

This all-star cast is of such high-performing pedigree that, coupled with the show’s previous sellout, cult success here, they shoulder the added burden of absurdly high expectations. 

The show gained its renown in its previous, intimate home in the caverns of the Banshee Labyrinth, which are a perfect setting for the hooded characters who shuffle on amusingly at the beginning. Sadly its new, larger big-top surrounds at the Piccolo Tent on St George’s Square seem to swallow something of its otherworldly charm and humour.

The use of space on stage, lighting and limited props is masterful. Beautiful vignettes plunge us underwater, canter into fairytale balls and chase through faraway cities. The threads come together nicely at the end, but something was lacking on the night.

Though the Monks have made clear that comedy and laughs are not their sole objectives in the making of the show, which is textured with fine physicality and performance art, the laughs there felt as though they never reached the heights that the performers surely expect.

Of the original four clowns – Max Baumgarten, John Norris, Bill O’Neill and Claire Woolner–  O'Neil is away filming a movie and is replaced by D Marcucci, a clown who appeared in Natalie Palamides's work in progress, Ladymagic, last year

Close friends and long-term collaborators, they have been feted for their ability to read one another and react in the moment. On top of this, Woolner and Norris have both been doing amazing things at Norris’s cabaret Piggy Time and Norris had a crowd at Monkey Barrel in stitches during his experimental Work in Chonkers later the same night. Expectations for Monk Show are all the higher for this. 

Other than having the paradoxical misfortune of having been a cult hit last year, there are times that some of the clown elements seem more acted or rehearsed, losing the risky, urgent energy that the show’s reputation promises and for which the performers are known. 

This is by no means a show to walk out of, but several people did just that, and the clowns either didn’t see or didn’t acknowledge the distraction, which might have helped. 

The standout moments were Baumgarten’s, in both his dreamy underwater scene, deftly supported by Norris and Woolner, and alongside a cameo from a very committed audience member, who got the biggest laughs of the night.

There is no doubt this is a good show that will be great again. The challenge over this run will be in mastering the space and bringing more of the magical worlds created to the whole of the bigger audience - the seats high at the back are a very long way from the action. 

Review date: 12 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: John Simpson
Reviewed at: Assembly George Square