Life Drawing With a Comedian is definitely a title that grabs the eye. And for Laugh Mob’s current FRINGE WORLD endeavour, it is an accurate one. Each show across the Festival period will welcome a comedian to the Rooftop Terrace at Universal Bar, and invite them to strip and pose in the name of comedy and art.

Comedy has long demanded something from its audiences, whether that be their presence, their ideas, their patience, or something else. In this case, the audience is invited to be participants. Given a pencil and sketchpad and offered an hour to explore different art styles through the central body of that evening’s comedian.

The class is relaxed and informal, the audience/participants put at ease by emcee/teacher Ruven, who guides us through the various art styles and encourages us to share our artistic responses (or those of our neighbour, if we’re feeling shy). Ruven’s calm wit is reassuring and I was delighted to have my work picked out and shown to the class, quickly nominated as the evening’s ‘teacher’s pet.’

Our comedian, Sam, committed to his poses and offered moments of humour in the form of witty comments and a few self-deprecating jokes. From the description of the event, I did expect a little more comedic material and was surprised by the length of time that was dedicated to the sketching alone, without much input from our comedian. Although on reflection, it’s a lot to expect someone to be cracking jokes when they’re asked to stay in the downward dog pose for a significant period of time…

If you’re looking for some light-hearted and creative Fringe fun where you get to be the artist, it’s worth checking out Life Drawing with a Comedian, with friends or by yourself — it’s pretty easy to make friends when the first thing you’re asked to do is a portrait of the person next to you!