Robin Grainger was confident as he stepped onto his opening show in Edinburgh on Friday. The performance marked his return to the world’s largest cultural festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in the wake of the pandemic. But it wasn’t the comeback he had envisioned.
Grainger has found success in comedy clubs and has backed bigger artists like Kevin Bridges. His career has also taken him to cities like Cape Town and Berlin. Nevertheless: At the culture festival he only had one spectator. His decision to go ahead with the show made him a star and boosted ticket sales for other shows.
The comedian, from Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, told BBC Scotland he’s been busy with other things during the day than keeping tabs on his show’s ticket sales. “I’ve been busy doing guest spots, handing out flyers and doing all the daytime stuff you do at the Fringe,” he tells the BBC. “I’m an optimistic guy, it was the first Friday – everyone was tweeting about a full audience. I thought it was going well.”
But then things turned out differently. Just before the show, Grainger’s technician came to see him. The comedian asked how it looked and the technician winced at the narration. “He said, ‘There’s one,'” Grainger tells the BBC. Within two minutes he went through all sorts of emotions, but then decided to go on stage anyway. Mike, sitting lonely in the audience, is said to have laughed a lot. The two clarified whether they wanted to do the show. The answer: yes. “I thought he paid for his ticket and I have a mic and an ego so I just did it,” said Robin Grainger.
“I did other things – it was a lot more social than my normal show. I did a lot of improvisation, I wrote a lot on stage. I tried to really tailor it to Mike. And he really laughed,” says Grainger .
Kate Copstick, the Scotsman’s comedy critic, had arrived early to discuss the post-Robin Grainger show. She secretly overheard him from outside. The staff revealed to her that only one spectator was present. The critics were very impressed.
The next day, she posted about the incident on social media. “Total respect and sympathy for a comedian who can do this,” she wrote. She also reported that she had met the only guest in front of the door. “‘I can’t remember ever laughing so much,'” she quotes him as saying. In his opinion, this show cannot be topped.
Robin Grainger’s phone has hardly stopped ringing since his own post and Kate Copstick’s. The post has more than 250,000 views in total, and Grainger’s upcoming shows are almost sold out.
The lonely guest also posted about the events on social networks. He also shared another funny incident the two shared: Robin Grainger made an impromptu appearance on a show by another comedian and host on Sunday. Even as he was telling the story to the one-man audience, a scream from the audience revealed: Mike – Grainger’s lone spectator – was also there.
Reunited, they snapped a photo after the show and shared it on Twitter. Mike writes with a wink: “I think I should start the ‘Robin Grainger Appreciation Society’.” (translated: “Robin Grainger fan community”) Grainger hopes that the remaining shows will be more successful. He jokingly told the BBC: “Who knows? I’d appreciate two viewers – the sky’s the limit”.
Sources: BBC / Twitter
