one4review | On 02, Sep 2026

Pegasus Comedy Award winner 2026 Ashley Haden is back in Edinburgh, with his trademark hard-hitting, well researched late-night comedy.
This year, the main thread is modern slavery in all its facets. Haden goes after well-known product brands and supply chains, with a brilliant section on the cosmetics industry that leaves an earworm cemented in your brain long after you’ve left the gig. There’s chocolate production and exploitation, equality for selfish reasons, the hypocrisy of the self-help industry and plenty more hard truths along the way.
He also aims at the obvious targets, including Starmer, Zack Polanski’s lack of integrity and the weaponisation of the culture wars, with a great routine about Farage’s riot holidays and some suitably savage material on winter fuel payments.
The highlight of the evening is an excellent piece with audience participation, Slavery Top Ten, that turns an otherwise grim subject into a form both shocking and strangely palatable, without ever losing sight of what Haden is actually saying.
Haden’s shows have, over the years, proved to be an uncomfortable ride for some audiences, but he has always delivered a thought-provoking hour. This year is his most accessible show yet, but don’t mistake that for Haden going soft. The material is honest and brutal; he’s just found a more welcoming route into it and is preparing to make you think first and laugh afterwards. It’s exactly why he remains the Prince of Darkness and one of the best political auteurs around.
****
Reviewed by Steve H
22.45 to 23.45
The Loft Laughing Horse @ The Counting House
Until August 30th