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Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

 
Ross Anthony Review by Ross Anthony 4 Published: 5 Aug 2025 Underbelly, George Square Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

I first saw Garry Starr in 2018, the first time I seriously came to the Fringe. It was my final night and I was resolved to cram as much in as I could. Damian Warren-Smith played the titular Garry Starr as he did everything in an effort to save theatre. It was the best show I saw all Fringe, and I had high expectations going into this one. This time, literature needs saving – so Garry riffs through Penguin Classic novels.

Chaos reigns through everything from food fights to a moorland hunt of a naughty Kate Bush.

With the help of a camera displaying book covers and a vast array of props, the show features wild interpretations of titles, plots and themes in a series of skits that keep the crowd howling. I’ll try to avoid spoiling too many titles, but he masterfully subverts Great Expectations and we all swooned through Holding the Man.

It’s been seven years since his first show, and the Gaulier clown has developed his craft into a beautifully chaotic farce – 70 minutes of side-splitting subversion and spectacular silliness. In 2018, the big reveal and twist was that when Garry’s cock came out, it felt like a bold step – as if the character had overcome something in himself. That’s gone for Penguin Classics, which sees full-frontal nudity from the outset… but cut with the silliest of walks and flamboyant flounces in his iconic Elizabethan ruff. It remained funny, but it did leave me wondering whether he needed to be naked for the entire show.

Many of his skits involve audience participation, and this could have delved into dubious territory considering the nudity. However, Damian navigates this admirably, making sure everyone is consenting and seemingly self-vets to get the right sort of people involved. Nobody is left embarrassed or humiliated – usually, they’re the heroes. Chaos reigns through everything from food fights to a moorland hunt of a naughty Kate Bush. It is hands down the best crowd work I’ve seen all Fringe.

He even manages to surf the audience – in the buff – with an enthusiastic crowd, and it doesn’t get weird.

I think where Garry Starr: Penguin Classics falls down is that it follows Damian’s previous work. It retains its absurd and ridiculous spark, but some of the vulnerability of his first show has gone. It is no longer quite so ground-breaking – but it does leave crowds grinning. By the end, the stage is strewn with errant penguins, and you’ll have found yourself squawking with joy by the time the clown is done.

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The Blurb:

Literature! Literature! Literature! It might not rhyme with anything but it's still very important. Garry Starr is back and he's hell-bent on saving books from extinction by performing every Penguin Classic novel ever written. Mostly naked (but with flippers). Comic wunderkind Starr takes us on a literary adventure through the world's most iconic works of fiction. From The Little Prince to Moby Dick and everything in between, nothing is safe from being lampooned with the utmost nincompoopery. 'A very funny man who is peculiarly averse to wearing trousers' ***** (Scotsman).