In a country riddled with ancient brain worms, Square Hole is not the cure, but it may be the salve you need to stop the irritation from sending you completely round the bend. Below is your monthly dose, accessible via an innovative ticketing system so you don’t have to queue.
John Robertson
Robertson is an irrepressible reprobate and scallywag, but dresses well and writes beautifully. A comic since 2003, his high-energy improv and impish crowd work means he arrives, raises hell and leaves. He has a devoted cult following thanks in part to his online Twitch shows and touring shows. He was the winner of Chortle Legend of Lockdown in 2021 and won Best Kids Show at Leicester Comedy Festival in 2019.
Not only a comic, his first play, Killing Hun In The Sun was nominated for the West Australian Equity Award for Best New Play, and his first novel, The Little Town of Marrowville, is a dark fantasy comedy aimed at children (directly, at their heads). He wrote and presented Videogame Nation for Sky TV and his Edinburgh Fringe project The Dark Room racked up millions of YouTube views, creating a new genre of interactive comedy. Robertson continues to tour the world, delighting and alarming audiences in every hemisphere and on almost every continent. For his impressive body of work he was presented with a ThreeWeeks Editor’s Choice Award at the Edinburgh Fringe.
“A manic and quick-witted revelation… if you only see one Perth-born set this year, make it John Robertson.” / The Scotsman
“this is astute, amoral stand-up for the morbidly inclined” **** / The Age, Melbourne
“ridiculously entertaining” / Kate Copstick
“you must see this show” ***** / British Comedy Guide
“stylish, alternative, funny” **** / Chortle
“Brilliant, bemusing and bloodthirsty” / Metro
“A cult is born” / Bruce Dessau
“That he’s a skilled stand-up is plain to see” / The List
“A hotly-tipped comedian for a good reason… he strides onto the stage giving precisely zero fucks” / The Skinny
“a triumph” **** / Herald Sun
Abigail Rolling
Yorkshire criminal defence solicitor, Abby, has been chained to a radiator in the magistrates’ court for almost 30 years. With misanthropic mirth she pulls back the curtain on a criminal justice system in terminal decline. The stories are true, the crisis real.
Her sell-out success Edinburgh Fringe debut, ‘Shit Lawyer’, lifted the veil on the world of criminal justice. Rolling highlighted the problems affecting the criminal justice system after successive governments have undercut the ability of lawyers to do their jobs properly – all to audiences not normally concerned with the legal world. Dark. Funny. Underfunded. And that’s just her.
“She’s ace” / Micky P Kerr, Really Funny Comedy
“Some of the cleverest writing I’ve heard, beautifully balanced… truly masterful” / RockCentral Promotions
“She’d better make it in comedy ‘cos she’s a shit lawyer” / Picture House Comedy
“The funniest solicitor I ever met” / Chris Lang, screenwriter
plus support from
Callum Jarvis-Jones
Terri Silver
and host
Rich Milner
Doors open: 6.30pm
Show starts: 7.00pm
Tickets: £9 online / £11 on the door (advanced booking recommended)
Venue: Shakespeare’s, Gibraltar Street, S3 8UB (upstairs)
