EDINBURGH 2015 - BWW Reviews: JOHN ROBERTSON – THE DARK ROOM: SYMPHONY OF A FLOATING HEAD, Underbelly Cowgate, August 29 2015

You awake to find yourself in Edinburgh in August. What do you do?

Well, if you're the sort of person who enjoys innovative, interactive, nerdy comedy, you go to see John Robertson's The Dark Room: Symphony of a Floating Head.

In a costume that is part pro-wrestler, part glam rocker and part David Bowie in Labyrinth, Australian comic Robertson bounds on to the stage to lead us in the Fringe's first live action video game. One by one, players from the audience awake to find themselves in the eponymous Dark Room, where they must select from a range of options to help them find the light switch and escape. Simple enough, right? Wrong! In the style of text-based adventures like Zork, The Dark Room is ludicrously difficult and unforgiving - "like a fascist Old Testament God" to quote the show. The audience are offered £1000 if they can win the game, but don't expect to be quids in, as players die frequently through the hour's running time.

Yet, with a lot of repeat custom from regulars (one player tonight had seen the show ten times this month - he still died) this show proves there are plenty of masochists around at the Fringe who revel in the difficulty. People don't just go for the actual game, though. Shouting out the many catchphrases of the production in a fashion somehow reminiscent of a nerdy panto is marvellous fun. It's an ideal show to go to with a group of mates, not least because you'll be hollering the catchphrases for at least a week afterwards, and it would be much more fun if someone understood what you meant by "Czech Pockets".

The Dark Room is a great concept for a show, backed up by a well-planned game, but it is Robertson who keeps the show going as the charismatic gamemaster, berating players for their foolish choices. Think Richard O'Brien in the earlier, meaner episodes of the Crystal Maze, only far less kindly and forgiving. Tonight's performance featured that frequent yet unfortunate thing - a Saturday night Edinburgh crowd, well-lubricated and convinced they are hilarious - however Robertson comes complete with an acid tongue for dealing with hecklers. The game could become dry when players pick the same options over again, but Robertson varies his pace and schtick enough to keep things fresh. A great deal of comedy comes more from his improvisation rather than the game mechanics, riffing on audience responses and events that arise throughout the show.

You don't need to have any knowledge of video games to enjoy The Dark Room, and the players are (mostly) volunteers, so it is a show that anyone can and will enjoy. This entertaining take on an interactive audience experience, combined with a cruelly hilarious host, has become the cult hit of Fringe 2015. See it, if you dare!

John Robertson - The Dark Room: Symphony of a Floating Head finishes at 20:40 on August 30th at Underbelly Cowgate.

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