Are you a fan of watching the pilot fly the plane while they’re building it? And the inevitable, glorious wreck to follow?
Are you a fan of stand-up comedy? Like, really, reeeeeally a fan?
Then Daniel Muggleton’s latest Fringe show might be for you.
Be warned: it’s a tough show to recommend. Not because Muggleton isn’t funny—he clearly is—but because this work-in-progress hour is raw, messy, and still finding its shape.
Muggleton’s vibe is (or should be) unmistakable. This is stand-up in action, testing ideas, pushing boundaries. He doesn’t just perform; he engages with discomfort.
Watching him right now feels like watching Coldplay debut songs as a jug band—before the stadiums, before laser shows, before 47-year-old Chris Martin attempts to outrun his mid-life crisis by pandering to teenagers via Max Martin-produced bubblegum pop songs.
Okay, that’s this reviewer’s own, deeply personal issue with Chris Martin—something for a future therapy session. But unlike Martin’s neon flailing, Muggleton’s self-awareness is spot on.
Muggleton playfully riffs on topics relating to his experience of the world, as well as—ahem—relevant current affairs. Although he clumsily stepped, at times, into sensitive areas unpopular with some in the audience—not particularly offensive, but not necessarily funny (yet) either.
Comedy is about finding what works. Some people get it; others storm out. Ironically, the latter are likely closer in worldview to Muggleton than those genuinely deserving of outrage—a point he eloquently made on this occasion, even if those who could benefit from the conversation missed the opportunity.
Was the show perfect? No. But it was this writer’s favourite of Fringe so far. It’s clear it will become something sharper when Muggleton returns later in the year to play bigger and better venues (with working mics, surely).
Right now, it’s a work in progress—his signature tracksuit top left side of stage peg like a symbolic ‘comeback later’ sign. But even in its half-built state, Muggleton’s talent shines: a comic confident enough to let you in on the process of his craft as you watch him figure it out.