What do you do when you’re about to fly out of the country, only for your airline to cancel your flight literally as you arrive at the airport? To make it worse, they rebook you on the next ‘available’ flight… at 6am the following morning?

Well, if you’re us, and you’re in Edinburgh, you say “f*ck it” and make the most of your unexpected evening of freedom. That meant hopping back on the tram to town, hitting the Christmas market for some spiked hot chocolate (double shot of amaretto – chef’s kiss), and checking the Monkey Barrel for that night’s gigs.

And that’s exactly how we ended up in Monkey Barrel 4, gin in hand, waiting for George Zacharopoulos to take the stage. This show felt long overdue for us – we’d heard good things, and if you can open for Larry Dean, you must have something special.

Our clown for the evening took to the stage, and one thing instantly caught my attention: his shoes. George was rocking a pair of limited-edition Nikes (Air Force 1s or Dunks, if I had to guess) in a stunning colourway of pink, yellow, and green over white. These kicks were cool, fun, clearly high quality – and, honestly, they just made me smile. While I won’t make a habit of reviewing clowns based on their footwear, these trainers perfectly foreshadowed the kind of night we were in for.

The show itself takes the audience on a journey through one of George’s most eye-opening relationships. From his addiction to early 2000s rom-coms to likening his girlfriend to a honey badger, and even admitting to being a coward (“because they live”), it’s clear this wasn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows. But even with that in mind, the tale he unfolds is both shocking and absolutely hilarious.

George Zacharopoulos is an incredibly optimistic and uplifting clown. It doesn’t take long for the audience to relax and lean into his storytelling. His crowd work is more involving than intimidating, and even a nervous-looking front row quickly warmed up, happily joining in the amusing back-and-forth.

This routine is carved from what must have been one of the most difficult periods of our clown’s life. His delivery will make you laugh, but it’s the authenticity of his material that makes you care. I can honestly say I’m glad our flight got cancelled.

Sadly, this was one of the final performances of this particular routine. However, the Glasgow show was being recorded for release as a special – and, when it does drop, I can’t recommend catching it highly enough.

To close, I’ll borrow the immortal words of Mars Blackmon: “It’s gotta be the shoes!”

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Monkey Barrel Comedy Club, Edinburgh

For future live performances, our optimistic and uplifting clown is reportedly working on a ‘light-hearted’ show about his fear of death… no, really. Keep an eye out for that – details should appear here soon.