John Robertson's The Dark Room

John Robertson brings The Dark Room to The Stand Comedy Club on Thursday 26 November, a rock n' roll comedy night that's built around a very specific, very strange premise. If you've never come across it, the setup is this: the audience is trapped in an inescapable dungeon with a sadistic videogame boss, and you have to pick increasingly surreal options off a screen to try and get out. If you win, you get money; if you fail, you die. It's a live-action video game, fusing stand-up, crowdwork and gaming into one. Robertson describes it as the Fringe's most deranged gameshow, and that's a fair summary of the chaos it runs on.

It's become a cult classic over the years, headlining stages at Glastonbury, PAX, Download Festival, MCM Comic Con, the Utrecht International Comedy Festival and Bluedot Festival, and selling out at the Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre. It picked up a Chortle Award along the way, and the British Comedy Guide named it the best-reviewed comedy of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025. The critics have been pretty descriptive about it, too: The Independent called it 'hilarious', The Telegraph described it as 'Rocky Horror for nerds', and The Guardian said it's 'not to be missed'. It's also gone viral on TikTok and Instagram, so if you've seen the clips but never the full thing, this is a good chance to catch it in the flesh.

It's a high-energy, interactive night, so it's less about sitting back and watching and more about being part of the game. The whole thing is Robertson's brainchild, and he's the one running the show from the front. If you're into gaming, comedy, or just the idea of a room full of people trying to survive a sadistic boss, it's right up your street. It's at The Stand on Thursday 26 November, so you can get your tickets sorted in advance.