one4review | On 23, Aug 2026

Rory Cargill’s On TV! is a wildly ambitious adventure built around a collection of fictional comedy characters from the 1980s. Cargill has put an extraordinary amount of work into its costumes, videos and technical infrastructure. With seven screens onstage, AI-generated elements and meticulously constructed archive footage, it’s a genuine multimedia extravaganza.

The difficulty is that this tremendous effort is often deployed in service of jokes that feel relatively slight. One extended sequence follows an imaginary 1980s comedy duo performing a sketch about pots and pans. The attention to detail is impressive, but the central idea is stretched so far that I could feel tension creeping through the small audience.

However, the audience were laughing, and several people I spoke to afterwards described it as good, clean, light and wacky fun. Cargill largely avoids bad language, and anything approaching the edge remains suggestive rather than becoming outright dirty. The people I spoke to were incredibly satisfied, saying that wacky adventures like this are exactly why they come to the Fringe.

While I found the elaborate setups more impressive than their payoffs, others will delight in the sheer eccentricity and commitment of it all. If you’re looking for a clean, wacky Fringe adventure, this show is for you.

***
Reviewed by Stephen “Sharpie” Sharp
Assembly George Square – The Crate
Until 30 August
18.55