We’ve all had them, right? Kissed a few frogs and all that. Bad dates are a right of passage, and now they’re also a Fringe show. What a great concept! This mischievous, ahem, poke at the horrors of dating features three different comics at each show, held together by Fringe-seasoned host, and UK comic, Ollie Horn. Quick on the uptake and nimble with a callback, Horn riffed effortlessly between sets, adding tags and fresh jokes that kept the momentum humming. 

Early on, he invited audience members to jot down their worst dating horror stories on the backs of cards, promising to revisit them later—a move that paid off handsomely in the final act. His own material drew heavily on the battlefield of modern romance, including a long-distance love that unravelled via “messenger committee”. 

Shayne Hunter followed with blokey bravado and a moustache that hovered somewhere between Merv Hughes tribute and 1970s adult-film throwback. Leaning into the persona of the dateless and desperate older dater, Hunter skewered contemporary trends with relish. Ethical non-monogamy? In his day, that was just a cold one-nighter from the hall-pass list. Through sharp satire and entertaining impressions of social media stereotypes, his set exposed the rebranding of old habits as shiny new movements, and queried whether monogamy is a capitalist plot. His stage presence was confident and grounded, with a great “Aussie bogan” persona.

Paul Savage, another UK import—“from the telly,” as those old enough to remember pre-streaming days call it—delivered a polished and tightly constructed set. He dissected the difference between dating apps with anthropological precision: Hinge for the hopeful romantics; Feeld for those exploring everything from polyamory to 30-shades style darkness. Savage mined big laughs from the indignity of catching your own “happiest face” on screen during long-distance video calls and veered into that time a group of Auslan users at his show had creatively improvised various hand gestures to communicate certain explicit terms not already catered for. A seasoned performer, he also plugged his own solo show—performed entirely in the nude—on at the later time of 11.30pm for those of a voyeuristic nature. 

Scottish firecracker Gill Cordiner closed the main sets with unapologetic gusto. Rocking a “here for a good time, not a long time,” vibe, Cordiner’s material revelled in frank sexuality, sartorial confidence, and the romance potential of disabled toilets. She has a very clear preference when it comes to certain male attributes and was more than willing to explore the merits—and shortcomings—at length. Boom-tish!

The audience dating horror stories provided a gloriously unpredictable, yet relatable, finale. Recurring motifs included baffling dead-animal photos and the unforgettable tale of a one-night stand that required an awkward return visit for glasses to enable a safe drive home. One dater met with a man who’d shaved 10 years off his app profile age, justifying it by insisting he could “clearly pull 25-year-olds but if he was honest about his age, no-one would swipe right”. This revelation produced a collective “yuck” all round. But the undisputed winner was the one about the man who punctuated every sentence, no matter how mundane, with finger guns. It was a pitch-perfect ending to a show that celebrated bad dating in all its absurd, cringeworthy glory.