Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Ayo Adenekan is a charmer, performing with restraint but an inner sparkle that suggests he adores being on stage. He holds the space in such a relaxed manner, talking around a subject, safe in the knowledge he will not lose our attention. 

Indeed, because he holds us so rapt, the slightest thing that punctures that spell elicits huge laughs, even if, objectively, it may not be the best joke.  It also means he never seems in much of a hurry to find the punchline, so can be inefficiently chatty in his set-ups. 

For his second Fringe show,  Adenekan has chosen to talk of love, just about the broadest subject you could find, covering both the romantic and familial kinds.

One through-line is a festival fling he had with a visiting Canadian circus performer one Fringe – although he was convinced it was the real deal at the time. The story has nice moments, but probably not enough drama.

Then there’s his father’s love, expressed via the medium of going to B&Q together, which is very much  what dads do. This culminates in Adenekan Sr having a long conversation with a staff member – told with typical self-indulgence, although it has a reasonable payoff and seeds something for later.

Adenekan is at his most interesting when he talks about being bisexual, with an hilarious revelation of the dilemma involved in dating another black man. The Scottish comic has plenty of opportunities to talk about aspects of his identity, but he (probably wisely) limits it, not resting the show solely on them.

We do, however, get his coming-out story, though it’s not an unfamiliar one: a queer person summons up the courage to tell friends or family about their sexuality, only to get the response: ‘We know.’  The response is less expected from devout African Muslims, but the comic’s parents seem as chilled as him.

Adenekan has a gentle sense of mischief and an ear for a good line, spotted by Saturday Night Live UK, which signed him up for the writing room, requiring a move to hostile, polluted London to be part of the writing team. But if only he had a few more of them to pack the hour tighter with good laughs, not just good vibes.

Review date: 23 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire)