Adenekan's Edinburgh Show Charms But Needs More Drafts
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- Ayo Adenekan, 24, returned to the Edinburgh Fringe for his second show "Homeland Insecurity" at CabVol @ Monkey Barrel, running until 30 August
- Adenekan moved from last year's fringe debut — where he joked about Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa — to writing for Gatwa on Sky's Saturday Night Live UK this year
- The Guardian reviewer said Adenekan "has the raw materials to fashion something distinctive" but called the show "not the finished article," with pacing that "tends to the sonorous" and several ideas that "go underdeveloped"
- The review flagged his "under-exposed angle on life… as a queer Scottish-African" as a distinctive strength, alongside a "smooth and mischievous manner"
- Adenekan ranges across his relationship with his dad, his "straight white man friends," and a London-based namesake comedian he says came to steal his thunder at last year's festival
- The Guardian singled out the line about his Nigerian diaspora family being "Muslim like Meghan Markle is black" as a standout, but said the framing summer-romance narrative felt "generic" despite his evident talent
Why it matters: Adenekan has vaulted from fringe newcomer to writer on a flagship Sky series in a single year, and this review identifies the specific gaps — pacing, joke development, commitment to bits — that separate his current live work from a finished set. His queer Scottish-African angle is repeatedly flagged as commercially distinctive material that mainstream UK comedy has yet to fully mine.
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