So, we enter the Monkey Barrel and an Ich Luger Dragon appears behind the bar and explains that they only sell fire water – an oxymoron if ever we heard one – but she takes us to the wonkavator that leads to our seats…

Okay, so none of that is true. But it does sort of lead us nicely into our review of this show. Let’s start at the beginning.

Our day had started well: we’d discovered the newly opened Shore Distillery in Leith, where our delightful host Julia let us sample their many gins and liqueurs for a bargain-basement price (we highly recommend the Skye Bridge Gin). We followed this up with a trip to Cocktail Geeks, where their Stranger Things theme is still going strong – fast becoming our favourite bar in the capital.

Nicely watered, we felt it was high time for laughter, so we wandered over the Royal Mile to the Monkey Barrel, and our evening with Lou Wall.

Now, you might wonder what on earth I was talking about at the top of this review, but this show is all about tall tales – and our clown may be the tallest teller of them all!

It’s incredibly difficult to review this show without giving the game away (something we would never want to do), but rest assured, this thing has more twists than a certain epically theme-songed Aussie kids’ show from 1990. The show revolves around how flexible clowns can be with the truth in order to entertain, and the lengths Lou Wall will go to make this point both joyfully and emphatically.

This is one of the most enjoyable and original hours of comedy we’ve seen this year. Refreshing in take and playful in nature, it truly brings something different to the space. The twists keep coming until the very end, and only the eagle-eyed will catch all of her gambits – check the notice on the door on your way out!

Lou Wall is currently on tour and, as a night of comedy that delivers something completely different, we cannot recommend the experience highly enough.

P.S. for those of you that caught the ‘Heathers’ reference, thank you, you are forever welcome in our big top.

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh

Lou Wall is currently touring ‘Breaking the 5th Wall’ – you can find out about all of her upcoming shows at louwall.com