EDINBURGH 2025: Review: STUART MCPHERSON: CRISPS AND A LIE DOWN, Monkey Barrel

It’s often said that the first day of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the hardest. Playing new material to new crowds, not quite sure what’s gonna hit with the weird mish mash audience of Londoners, American tourists, critics, and the odd local or two. In the case of Stuart McPherson, the first day of Edinburgh Festival Fringe previews may have provided an even harder battle, but one in which the comedian handled with ease.

In McPherson’s 2023 show Love That For Me, the comic spoke candidly about how his girlfriend, also a stand up comedian, cheated on him with another stand-up comedian and how it impacted him in increasingly hilarious, yet profound, ways. Now, two years on, Stuart finds himself in a much happier position in life.

The show opens with a bit of set up from McPherson, introducing the audience to his current life, inviting us in to meet his wife (partner) and their child (dog) - a modern family if ever there was one. Pretty quickly, the Scottish comedian launches into a hilarious routine about the strange pavlovian relationship he and his partner have with their dog, and how it impacts their sex life. When McPherson belts out the line “we’re doing doggy style every night, only it’s our doggy’s style which means missionary and against our will” you’d expect a massive laugh but during this performance, the reaction was lacking. 

However, McPherson, a master of taking an unsatisfactory reaction and making it work in his favour, quickly joked about the confused Americans in the audience, quickly getting a laugh and keeping them on his side. Although there were clearly British references throughout the show that some in the audience didn’t get - like Andrew Marr or Noel Edmond - this was only an opportunity for McPherson to flex his quick wit, turning even the most lacklustre of audience reactions into a room full of laughter with his wonderful improvisational skills, though it was admittedly an uphill battle at points.

The show itself is told through the lens of one night without the internet, and the conversations that ensued between Stuart and his partner about their future together and whether or not they want children. From jokes about repressed Scottish fathers, the macabre musings of our grandparents and the peculiar traits that are passed down from generation to generation, McPherson has crafted an intricate show that represents the modern fears and optimism’s towards starting a family. 

Through it all, Crisps and a Lie Down is a very human piece of stand up. Regarding itself with the mistakes of its performer, McPherson is never afraid to admit when he makes a mistake (especially when it makes for a great punchline). It is these mistakes that are at the very heart of the show, and which makes for a hilarious climax, as it is our imperfections in the first place that make us - and equally, Stuart McPherson - question whether we wish to have children in the first place. As he puts it himself, we are one half of our mother and one half of our father, and, statistically, there are some of us in the audience who got the worse halves of both.

The latest hour from Stuart McPherson may have been lost on its first audience of the Fringe, but there is no doubt that this show is sure to leave audiences laughing throughout the month of August.

Stuart McPherson: Crisps And A Lie Down is a fantastic show from one of Scotland’s finest stand-up’s. 

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