Donald Robertson is Not a Stand-Up Comedian

Small, but packing a powerful punch, Gary McNair’s ode to comedy, Donald Robertson is Not a Stand-Up Comedian, is the perfect blend of theatre and farce.  

Beginning on a daunting bus ride to Bellshill, where he assures us his mysterious, nameless girlfriend lives, McNair chances upon the awkward and bullied teenager Donald Roberston, who tells jokes to try to defend himself. However, Donald is a child with no natural comedic talent or comic timing. And so, a weekly bus trip – to see a girlfriend who may or may not exist – becomes a beginner’s class in comedy, and a lecture in surviving school relatively unscathed, as the elder McNair becomes a kind of comic sage for the young, impressionable teenager.

Carefully and lovingly constructed, Donald Robertson is Not a Stand-Up Comedian is a smart and infinitely relatable piece of theatre/comedy, straddling the fine line between both artforms very well. Moments of straight stand-up and ‘banter’ with the audience segue seamlessly into McNair’s signature analytical style. The show is less about the jokes themselves, but rather why we find them funny, and perhaps more importantly, why being funny is so highly valued. 

But what makes this show really magical (and also perhaps the reason for its longevity) is this sense of vulnerability that runs throughout. Not everyone who sees the show is still a teenager, but they've probably never forgotten what it was like to be one.

The comedy is at times churlish, the theatre at times Brechtian. With affectionate nods to established comedians like Billy Connolly, and more than a few jibes at the music of Tom Jones, this play is a lesson in storytelling and an homage to the best years of your life. An absolute delight.

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Donald Robertson is not a Stand-Up Comedian, touring Scotland