one4review | On 10, Aug 2026

Glasgow’s Alan Jay is a man on a mission and sets his stall out with a spring-break trapdoor entrance, with an energy that immediately takes hold of a sold-out crowd. And boy, are they up for it, to the extent there is a danger of it becoming a conga line before we’ve even got started.

His opening is just class, instantly putting everyone at ease with a classic zinger. Describing himself as looking like a man who harasses people on OnlyFans, his battles with his weight, as someone who went straight out of the closet to the fridge.

Barbs aside, the story is his life – being brought up by two drug-addicted parents, the effect that had on his mental health, and dealing with chubby chasers.

This is where Jay comes into his own, with enough one-liners and put-downs in an hour to rival Steven Bailey’s entire career.

The writing is whip-smart, the delivery is spot-on and no one is immune. Going into a hospital for group weight loss and realising he was the skinniest there is genius, and there’s also a brilliant recurring thread about extra-protein McDonald’s meals in Glasgow.

And it just never stops. From his spirit-animal adoption of a hamster to his travels in Taiwan, the show keeps finding new places to go and further than his comedy peers, it is a celebration of good times and making the best of the bad.

This is a new comedian at the top of his game, with a story to tell and the comic chops to make every painful, filthy, flirty and ridiculous corner of it land.

Perhaps the best gay-cation you will attend at the Fringe, no passport required.

****
Reviewed by Steve H
Gilded Balloon Patterhouse
Until 30th August (not 18th)
18.00 (1 hour)