one4review | On 06, Aug 2025

A welcome return to the Fringe from the self-proclaimed “Travelling Whimsy Merchant”, the new show from Alasdair Beckett-King (or ABK, for short) is a delightful assortment of oddments of jokes, asides and flights of fancy. Pitched as, at least partly, a deliberate attempt to entice the audience away from the darkness of the real world, ABK’s playful style of very intelligent, yet often very silly gags, is a wonderful tonic against what seems to be an ever growing trend for “darkly comic” standup.

Having been a fan of ABK for a good while, of his standup, short form sketches on social media and even his video games and children’s books, I unsurprisingly adored this show. Beckett-King has an attention to detail and love of craft that shows up in lots of strange little places – like creating and animating a Claymation underwater scene for a single gag. There’s a real sense that almost the whole show has had a similar level of tailoring.

Appropriately for a show about the little things, the show is mostly composed of one-liners and while some are laser-focused on extremely specific niche interests, 90s childhoods or just being very, very, very British, there’s always a little something to love and laugh at.

Long overdue a big ticket to a mainstream success, Mr. Beckett-King is definitely someone to watch (both figuratively and literally).

“*****

Reviewed by Tom

Pleasance Dome – King Dome

20.00 (1hr)

Until 11 Aug