August 14, 2026 at Shedinburgh
Whoever had the idea to make Nish Kumar play the straight man (presumably Stuart Laws) is a genius. It’s far from an obvious choice, given his persona. But watching him try to wrangle his own chaotic energy into a way of keeping proceedings on track is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. This was incredibly funny in the “Never” shows, in which, when Kumar was playing the Christopher Nolan role, the whole thing was driven by by Stuart Laws seeing how many creative ways he can find to mess up Kumar’s plans. While they’ve changed up the format now, they’ve kept that essential element.
For anyone wondering how similar this will be to its predecessor show: Stuart Laws brings back his Michael Caine character, very similar in manner to how he’s played it previously (though now with more sudden declarations that he’s 92 years old – an odd choice, since Michael Caine is currently 93), but this time doing an interview panel for an acting/directing class, rather than trying to shoot Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan is also on the panel. They act out some scenes. It’s fantastic.
The night I saw it, they had Phil Wang as Liam Neeson and Lorna Rose Treen as a local student, though those members of the cast will vary on different nights. Wang’s role was mostly based around doing a terrible Northern Irish accent, which was funnier than that description makes it sound. Treen was brilliant; as the only cast member with an actual career as a character comedian, she threw herself into it relentlessly.
This show takes place in the perfect setting, late-night on the characterful Shedinburgh stage (pictured above). As we watched the improvised scenes descend into chaos, Nish Kumar eventually insisting, “You can always regret improv!”, it felt like what any fringe festival should be. I’ve seen some extremely smart and polished comedy this week, but not much of it has made me laugh harder than Stuart Laws accidentally-on-purpose hitting Phil Wang in the head with a lamp.
It ends on a little bit that was prepared beforehand, and hits the final note utterly perfectly, fully earning a massive laugh. If you liked the Never shows, you will love this.
Dave Baillie