It’s lunchtime in Edinburgh towards the end of the Fringe. We were sitting in the Nightcap on York Place and I had just ordered my second Corpse Reviver No.2 (the absinthe was key). As I say, it was lunchtime, so this may seem like I have a problem but in fact we were in the best mood. We had just been next door at the legendary Stand Comedy Club to catch an early show from Mark Thomas. And we were buzzing!

Our clown took to the stage and, to put it kindly, he really did not look great. He informed us that he had been incredibly sick the night before but was determined that the show must go on, in his own words he wasn’t sure how much he had in him but that he was going to give us absolutely everything that he had.

It was standing room only, the venue was packed to the rafters and everyone who was lucky enough to be there on that day witnessed the comedy equivalent of the Michael Jordan flu game! (For a more anglicised version think Terry Butcher in 89 v Sweden). Our clown sucked it up and came through with a powerhouse of a performance.

There was no investigation to this show, not even a pure underlying theme, this was political anguish, pain and frustration from one of the very best in the business. The interaction with the crowd worked a treat, we all had a thoroughly enjoyable old sing-a-long to Bohemian Rhapsody, which was already a win before he delivered the payoff that gave the moment it’s comedy meaning.

Mark even took time to pay tribute to Barry Cryer and Bernard Cribbins, two of the comedy legends that we had recently lost, by re-telling a favourite joke of theirs and entertaining us with a couple of heartfelt anecdotes. It’s incredible to watch this man shift from thundering about the state of government to almost tearing up whist celebrating his lost friends and heroes.

This was a wonderful show, the kind that makes you have to grab a drink and discuss everything that you just saw and heard and soon as you possibly can. And that is how we ended up, one door over from the Stand, having a strong drink, and reliving one of those Edinburgh Fringe moments that you know won’t ever happen again.

Clown Stars: * * * * *

@The Stand, Edinburgh

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