We love nothing more than a quality recommendation, so when comedian Huge Davies flagged up an ‘incredible’, clown with tickets to sell, performing just over the road we quickly got on the case!

We haven’t been to the Tron for a while so we arrived far too early and discovered, to our horror, that it has been ‘deconsecrated’ into an O’Neill’s… Admittedly that horror was lessened when they let us in to the bar through the fire doors and recommended we try the rather excellent Shortcross gin, which is distilled in Northern Ireland  – damn you alcohol, you win again!

Glasses charged, we head down the stairs at the side of the venue and settle into the bijou comedy space – it’s small but it feels right. 

Sam Lake takes to the stage in flamboyant style, dressed in short shorts and a Nadine Coyle tee. He begins the show with a shocking twist of a disclaimer… Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our clown is gay!

Now, obviously this is the sort of revelation that even Stevie Wonder could see, but it does nicely lead into the main theme of the show. You see, sadly our clown lost his mum at a young age, and he never managed to summon the strength to come out to her. This is the story of that time, his regret… And also the discovery that his mum obviously knew all along.

This is a joyous show from a truly likeable clown, which is worth seeing just to discover the etymology of the word ‘Flaggot’ and his scarily accurate interpretation of his act if he had remained in the closet and stayed ‘playing straight’.

This was a ‘Huge’ recommendation (boom) and one that we’ll happily pay forward.

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Monkey Barrel – The Tron, Edinburgh

You can find out more information about this clown’s future dates at samlakecomedy.com