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Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People

 
Matt Brown Review by Matt Brown 4 Published: 11 Aug 2025 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

Lorna Rose Treen is both a Gaulier-trained clown and a previous winner of Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe award. Her new show, 24 Hour Diner People, expertly blends character-based clown comedy with hilarious one-liners. Attempting to evolve her usual sketch comedy format, Treen this time situates all her characters in one American diner, dripping with Americana. We meet the waitress – a woman who dreams of running away and starting a new life (and is also addicted to eating coins and banknotes). We meet an awkward teenager who wants her crush to invite her to prom (and for him to “reset [her] like a Tamagotchi”). And we meet a couple planning to rob the diner at gunpoint (the boyfriend played expertly by a member of the audience) and an undercover spy.

Many of the jokes are so daft they shouldn’t work, but do

These characters rotate through the show, interacting with the audience and delivering hilarious and daft one-liners. Treen brings a chaotic DIY energy to the one-woman show and makes good use of props and stagecraft throughout – like a blow-up doll she uses to facilitate conversations between her characters. Many of the jokes are so daft they shouldn’t work, but do – thanks in large part to Treen’s charm and delivery.

What doesn’t work as well are the framing device and narrative, with the ending feeling rushed and none of the characters or stories having a really solid, satisfying payoff. Treen sets up more than she has time to work with in an hour-long Fringe slot, and the show’s big foreshadowed climax falls a little flat.

Treen tries to do many different things with 24 Hour Diner People, and most of them work. A clown show, a sketch show, a one-liner showcase and a piece of cohesive comedic theatre, it is very close to a masterpiece but ultimately bites off slightly more than it can chew.

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Award-winning character comedian Lorna Rose Treen has made a diner. She's inviting you in for an hour of characters, nonsense and a working grill. (Now with no working grill!) Afterwards, you'll say to your neighbour, 'I'll have what she's having!' Lorna's critically acclaimed debut show sold out in a week. Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe 2023. Creator/star of Radio 4's Time of the Week. 'Gloriously daft hour' ***** (Telegraph, Top 5 Comedy Shows 2023). 'Most fun a person can have in a room featuring folding chairs' ***** (Observer). Directed by Jonathan Oldfield.