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101 Rules for a Better World (By Comedians) 4**** - One4Review

101 Rules for a Better World (By Comedians) 4****

| On 15, Aug 2025

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If you’ve been in a social setting and heard someone say, I could fix the world if only people listened, this is your show — except here the arguments are funnier and occasionally even plausible.
Hosted by Leslie Gold and Tom Mayhew, this brand-new panel show flips the format of Room 101 on its head. Instead of banishing bad ideas to oblivion, the panel is tasked with adding “good stuff” to the world. The catch? They have to convince an audience who will happily pick holes in the logic before voting each suggestion in or out.
Gold and Mayhew are a perfect hosting double-act — she has the sharpness and swagger of a cabaret compère who’s seen it all, he has the deadpan delivery of someone quietly plotting world domination through whimsy. Between them, they marshal an ever-changing lineup of guests. Today’s roster featured the acerbic, politically barbed Ashley Haden; the wonderful Gabrielle Macpherson; and producer-turned-wildcard Nick Kirk, who clearly enjoys stepping into the firing line as much as running the ship.
The rules are simple, and the chaos is immediate. Macpherson opens with “Doughnuts for everyone on Mondays” — the sort of populist policy that could win elections if implemented. The audience dives in with forensic precision: Who’s funding it? What about people with gluten intolerance? Before long, she’s into a gloriously unhinged rant about her hatred of fruit in desserts, prompting knowing nods from some and horrified gasps from others.
Haden, meanwhile, pitches with the precision of a man who knows how to ignite a room, dismantling capitalist logic. An audience member suggests making mocktails cheaper than their alcoholic cousins — cue a ten-minute tangent that becomes half comedy roast, half economic think tank.
Gold and Mayhew preside over the bedlam with an iron fist — firm when they need to slap down an overcooked idea, but sweet enough to let the chaos breathe. They prod, interrupt, and stir the pot like seasoned mischief-makers, ensuring that even the most hare-brained rule gets a fair (and funny) trial.
In a Fringe calendar stuffed with straight stand-up, this is a lovely mid-afternoon brain sorbet — part comedy, part verbal Squid Game.
****
Reviewed by Steve H
Laughing Horse @ Bar 50
15.30 (1hr)
Until 24 Aug (not 18)

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