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Ruaridh Miller: It's Pronounced "Ruaridh"

 
Stuart Mckenzie Review by Stuart Mckenzie 4 Published: 17 Aug 2025 Hoots @ The Apex Show Dates: 13 Aug 2025-25 Aug 2025

With a nomination for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, it’s safe to say that Ruaridh Miller is riding the high of an excellent Fringe debut. With fresh eyes and remarkable promise, Doonhamer-turned-Edinburgher Miller makes a powerful statement to the global comedic stage this August with boisterous vigour and irresistible droll charm. There are local points of interest and Scottish humour. There is a wealth of social commentary. There are webbed toes. Miller’s Fringe debut is anything if not a delight to behold: a passionate display of industriousness, tightly written gags and creative reflexivity working in brilliant harmony.

That long sought-after act who blends candid real-life stories with the charisma to match

From the offset, Miller’s energy is playful yet commanding, concealing a wit as sharp as his catty claws with early blood drawn from his swipe at the royals. Structurally, the show is airtight, reflecting excellent rehearsal on Miller’s part as he coolly handles the larger setups while leaving himself open to creative deviation with playful audience interaction. “I realise this room is like a sauna,” Miller remarks, chiding the lack of windows before gifting the AC remote to the enthusiastic women in the second row. “I leave it in your capable hands if we freeze or melt.” Miller has a natural read for people and is acutely aware of his audience’s mood, with an inbuilt state-of-the-art crowd radar that knows when to move on or double down.

That Miller chooses to draw from the local comedic well of inspiration – his vanguard a ripping anecdote on Edinburgher self-loathing – lends a welcome voice to the Fringe’s all-too-often London-dominated circuit. The local skits provide a launch pad for the next fine set piece, which introduces the act’s namesake: his oft-mispronounced forename, the bane of every airport passport clerk, swiftly leading into a riotous dispatch on his misadventures in Poland.

We could dismiss another early-30s comic rueing the death of their 20s, but Miller’s response to this is uncharacteristically upbeat in the face of lifestyle changes. He negotiates grey hairs and the rules of veganism, twisting them just enough to be both satirical and original.

A font of political intrigue, one could be forgiven for deeming our cheery-grinning comic for sententiousness in the third act with a clarion call for social justice in the face of increasing fears for civil rights under Trump’s America. But he forestalls preachiness just at the right moment to return well-earned dividends, landing bullseyes on Elon Musk that bleed into a roasting of Neuralink and the prospect of Pornhub mind viruses. Similarly, his take on smoking-advertisement warnings is a slow burner but ignites laughter from every corner of the room, and sets up a larger bit on his amusing disavowal of LinkedIn.

Is there a little wear and tear in the show’s joints? Possibly, with the topic sentences of “I want to talk about” casually thrown in. But Miller doesn’t succumb to the comedian’s curse of disconnection and poor timing, bypassing any spare moments with the fluidity expected of top-brass comics. No, Miller is that long sought-after act who blends candid real-life stories with the charisma to match – and he has all the hallmarks of a future comedic triumph. For now, we give thanks and praise to have his debut grace the Fringe, but it’s undoubtable that in time we’ll see his act ascend to higher comedic planes.

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The Blurb:

Pigeon conspiracies. Unexpected war heroes. Die Hard with a Vengeance. Just some of the topics covered in this hilarious and wide-ranging show from a regular crowd favourite on the Scottish comedy circuit. Ruaridh has compiled his various stand-up routines from comedy clubs across the country into one show and tried to find a common theme, reaching an awful conclusion. Shortlisted for 2024 BBC New Comedy award and a regular joke contributor to BBC's Breaking the News. 'Great jokes... Landed one after another' (CityLiveGlasgow.com). 'Sharp writing [and] natural charisma' (Comedy.co.uk).