Returning for its eleventh year at the Edinburgh Fringe, this cult favorite show has lost none of its energy and atmosphere. We spent an hour watching a version of an 80s classic text adventure game, where ‘you wake to find yourself in a dark room!!!’, with members of the audience being picked to play for the £1000 prize. However, after a few goes around and inevitably being sent back to the opening screen all players end up being hailed with the shouts of 100 people shouting ‘You die! You die! You die!.
One of the most intuitively interactive and hysterical shows that you could go back to every night
John Robertson brings an extraordinary energy to his performance, which is scary and intimidating, but fundamentally charming and absolutely hilarious. As he struts around naming each of his players Darren with no exception, he keeps everyone thoroughly on the edge of their seats in both fear and anticipation for the next round. What adds to the charm of what is otherwise an often crass, cruel, and degrading show (in the best way possible) is Robertson's clear love and devotion for the game, it is his childhood dream realized as an adult and it’s a wonder to watch.
Part of what makes this show so great is the crowd. At the beginning some of the lines we heard the most like; 'You Die! You Die! You Die' or 'You awake to find yourself in a Dark Room' were being spoken by the odd member of the audience, but by the end we were all bellowing along to the shame of whoever had just failed to escape the Dark Room.
The changes that have been made over the years all add to the bizarre experience rather than subtract from it. With regular guest acts from other Fringe shows who come along to be insulted and demeaned, the same as anyone else brave enough to enter The Dark Room. As well as the addition of new rooms and the possibility of crowd surfing in the latter part of the show. This brutal game show is one of the most intuitively interactive and hysterical shows that you could go back to every night of the Fringe.
