Scottish comedian makes Fringe comeback to audience of one
Ross Grainger decided the show must go on despite only one man showing up to see his performance
Last updated 10th Aug 2022
A comedian from Aberdeen has made his post-covid comeback at the Edinburgh Fringe - to a one-man audience.
Robin Grainger's tech manager broke the news that only one person had turned up - just before he was due to go on stage.
Commenting on his feelings, Grainger said:
“I did go through every emotion in the two minutes between my tech telling me that there was only one person, to actually stepping onto the stage.”
The comedian, who studied acting and performance, decided the show must go on and went on to have a “very chatty and convivial hour” that was “lots and lots of fun.”
Grainger, originally from Portsoy, said: “There’s a phrase: rising tides lift all ships and I think that’s true, especially when it’s happening in an industry that’s been closed down because of the pandemic.”
His love of comedy started with Billy Connelly and Richard Pryor, as well as his parents.
“I did go through every emotion in the two minutes between my tech telling me that there was only one person, to actually stepping onto the stage.”
Grainger said: “I’m nothing without my audience, however small that audience may be. Mike was there and he’d paid for his ticket, he’d found a flyer and had an hour to kill – he didn’t need to come, but he did and he was phenomenal.”
His stand-up success has taken Robin to the likes of Cape Town and Berlin but he stands firm that there is something particularly special about a Scottish audience.
“I loved gigging overseas, but there’s something in the core of the Scottish audience member that just really tunes in to the importance of laughter bringing people together and making people feel happy. It’s brilliant to be able to play in Scotland and I’m just grateful.”
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And his commitment towards that importance of laughter on Friday has sparked a subsequent rise in ticket sales. His tweet about the incident has over 250,000 views and he’s had interviews with Irish Radio stations, Canadian Radio Stations as well as The Herald and The BBC, among others.
"There is something particularly special about a Scottish audience."
Robin said: “The message of my show is: let’s have a laugh and be nicer to each other; I think it’s very important that we just be nice.”
His devotion to performing, to even just an audience of one, means that Robin’s story has gone global and his show has near full houses every night for the rest of its run.
“This is the apocryphal tale of the worst kind of show – no one wants to see just one person there, but it was such a laugh and I’m so proud that Mike was the person who bought the ticket.”
He says the “symbiosis” between himself and an audience is about “human connection” and “paying it forward”; his show on Friday has certainly paid itself forward and his run at the Fringe is going to be one to remember.