one4review | On 12, Aug 2025

Stuart Laws goes through a difficult breakup and decides to become the caretaker of an island solely populated by puffins; he is then embroiled in a whodunnit as he has to solve a mysterious disappearance on this island. It’s an experience everyone can relate to, of course – at least, the breakup part.

Stuart Laws is Stuck combines stand-up and theatre – the performance being split between monologues and sections set on the island following him in his quest to uncover the mystery (and avoid talking about his emotional state). Kate Hammer plays the role of the different puffin characters (it’s an important detail to note that Stuart can talk to puffins in this show). Both comics are excellent, it is clear they enjoy performing together and have great chemistry which sells such an absurd dynamic. Without question, it is a convoluted concept and requires Stuart to break the golden narrative rule of ‘show, don’t tell’  by instead doing both from the very beginning – starting by explaining how the lighting changes and the TV onstage show the audience whether he is on the island or monologuing in The Tron.

This elaborate plot only escalates further when it becomes clear that the breakup is not the true subtext of the events on the puffin island. It is this payoff which truly reveals the brilliance of the show and the strength of Laws’ storytelling abilities. While many comedy shows centre around the notion of using humour to communicate something vulnerable, Stuart’s show takes this to the next degree. The whole structure serves this larger purpose in such an ambitious, singular and imaginative way, it’s a testament to Stuart’s skill as a comic that he pulls it off – it’s certainly not a show I’ll forget in a hurry.

****

Reviewed by Niamh O’Hara