EDINBURGH 2025: Review: ROSCO MCCLELLAND: HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE, Monkey Barrel
Rosco McClelland: How Could Hell Be Any Worse? is at Edfringe until 24 August
By: Natalie O'Donoghue Aug. 16, 2025
Click Here for More on Edinburgh Festival
The last year has seen a real upward trajectory in Rosco McClelland’s comedy career. The 2025 winner of the Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award had the most-reviewed Scottish comedy show of last year's Fringe and has scooped international awards. So where does he go from here?
2024’s Sudden Death was about a life-threatening condition that McClelland has and while the show was well received, it left him feeling vulnerable afterwards. So this brings us to 2025’s How Could Hell Be Any Worse.
The show is mostly observational and it is absolutely jam-packed with laughs. From charming anecdotes about an escapee Roomba hoover to what is probably the best bit any comic has ever done on Sum41, this is an expertly crafted show.
Rosco McClelland’s delivery is casual, which makes him quite disarming. You’re not expecting the callbacks, the incredibly witty punchlines and the occasional blackout.
With How Could Hell Be Any Worse, McClelland has more than proven himself as a comedian who can deliver both a big emotional show and an electrifying hour of wall-to-wall bangers.
Reader Reviews
Get Broadway News on WhatsApp
Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.
Videos