one4review | On 14, Aug 2025

Returning to the Fringe after the great success of his previous award winning comedy horror show Gay Witch Sex Cult, Andrew Doherty returns to the Fringe with a new one man show looking at the silly side of being very, very serious.

Having had his wealthy parents pull the plug on funding his ongoing theatrical escapades, Doherty has decided it’s time to put comedy aside and focus on what really matters – the pursuit of financial success. With funding generously given from Arts Council England, and under their – somewhat draconian – guidance he is developing a brand new play all about being gay, sad and working class during the AIDS epidemic, and while Doherty’s only an expert on the first of those things, he’s pretty sure he can guess the rest. Thus is born “AIDS Actually”, a gritty work drama that’s sure to get the critics and audiences on side and keep the council funding coming.

Doherty’s caricature of himself – as a campy, neurotic, self-interested nepo baby is immediately a delight on stage, with an awkward forced laugh and the bluntness of ignorance. He can get a laugh from a simple glance at the crowd or a slightly overlong dramatic pause. The jokes are many and varied, from delightful one liners to very silly conceits and set ups about what poor families in Northeast England might be like. There’s also a nice undertone of menace from the representatives of Arts Council England, who become ever more sinister as the show continues. And that extra layer brings a real freshness to what could have otherwise been a slightly more by-the-numbers one man show. And, perhaps surprisingly, the show actually does have some things to say about the allocations of arts funding, the pressures put on creatives by their patrons and how that pushes them away from their true passions.

I was unfortunate enough not to get a chance to catch Doherty’s Gay Witch Sex Cult last year and there is, perhaps a slight feeling of this being the “difficult second show” as the previous show does get name dropped a couple of times and the plot of this year’s focuses on how to turn a single artistic success into a lifelong career. The parody also feels slightly dated in its focus – I don’t know how much queer creators are pushed towards plays about the AIDS crisis and Northern poverty these days when both have become such clichés, they’re almost underrepresented – but that’s probably just nitpicking on my part.

Overall, this is a very funny and well written parody show, showing us that sometimes there’s nothing funnier than taking yourself seriously.

****

Reviewed by Tom

Pleasance Dome – 10 Dome

Various Times

Until 24 Aug