The Joker and the Thief
★★★★☆ Modern nostalgia
theSpaceTriplex (Venue 38): Fri 7 – Sat 15 Aug 2026
theSpace @ Niddry Street (Venue 9): Mon 17 – Sat 29 Aug 2026
Review by Tom Ralphs.
Dylan and Will Theatre transports us back to Edinburgh in 1980 with The Joker and the Thief at theSpace, a time when the city was a cheap place to stay during August and stand-up comedy was coming to the fringe for the first time courtesy of Alexei Sayle.
This is a brand new play from company founders and writers Dylan Kaeuper and Will Grice. Using the 1980 festival as their backdrop, the play centres on Sid Michaels and Larry Langford, an English comedian and his American double act partner from the decade before. Their rise to fame ended when a show that could have led to their big break went wrong leading to Sid exiting the stage and returning home.
Will Grice and Dylan Kaeuper with Rufus Goodman. Pic: Jackson Altenkirch-Moroney.
Larry, played by Kaeuper, is making his UK debut with a five-night run at Usher Hall as part of the International Festival; while Sid, played by Grice, is at the other end of the bill playing in a twenty-seat capacity cave for the duration of the Fringe.
The play sees the two meeting up again, against the wishes of the appropriately names Howard Burden, Larry’s manager (Rufus Goodman), who is keen to protect his prize asset and get him onto the stage in 45 minutes time.
The script is clever and engaging even if it could have been borrowed from a Columbo episode, and setting the play at a later time or a different location may have been a better option than some of the tenuous connections to the 70s and 80s they have pushed themselves into using because of the setting they chose.
unassuming air
Grice plays Sid with the unassuming air of an unknown comedian feeling his way into a career at a time when his style of stand-up was starting to fall out of fashion. He contrasts nostalgia for his days in the double act with a desire to see his old friend do well, even as he wonders about why their last show ended the way it did,
Kaueper’s Larry is brasher and more self-confident but conveys a sense of unease with his status as a successful comedian reliant on a team of writers to please an audience who are waiting for the next joke as soon as they’ve heard the last one. His mixture of pride and bashfulness as he names celebrities he’s opened for illustrates this sense of mild embarrassment at what he’s becoming.
Rufus Goodman and Dylan Kaeuper. Pic: Jackson Altenkirch-Moroney
As Howard, Goodman is duplicitous and cunning. Initially relentlessly positive and enthusiastic as only an American agent could be, he descends into a more manic state as he tries and fails to prevent the comics from meeting and from secrets emerging.
The fight scene coordinated by Rebecca Mahar is both comic and convincing. Emily Louise Brown’s costume design is effective in recreating the contrast between standard uniforms of British and American comedians. Nice touches such as a union jack bow tie add to the authenticity of the insincere crowd-pleasing tricks used to try and get audiences onside.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
theSpaceTriplex (Studio), The Prince Philip Building19 Hill Place EH8 9DP (Venue 38).
Friday 7 – Saturday 15 August 2026.
Daily: 8.05pm.
theSpace @ Niddry Street (Upper Theatre), Niddry Street EH1 1TH (Venue 9).
Monday 17 – Saturday 29 August 2026.
Daily (Not Sun): 8.15pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Dylan and Will Theatre website: www.dylanandwilltheatre.com
Instagram: @dylanandwill
ENDS
