Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Knight, Knight
Madeleine Rowe
Genre: character comedy, Clown, Historical, One Person Show
Venue: Underbelly
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Can a king love his horse too much? You can answer that for yourselves with this clown-style romp through Medieval England.
Review
The bond between a man and his horse can never be wrong, can it? In Knight, Knight, you just might have to decide that for yourselves. Back for the second year running, Madeline Rowe’s one person comedy about a king, a sword, and a surprisingly risqué horse called Hermes is drawing in the Fringe crowds down at the Wee Coo in Underbelly.
Rowe offers an absurdist take on Arthurian legend – think Monty Python and the Holy Grail meets Robin Hood: Men in Tights, with just a splash of Merlin in there for good measure. The most obvious comparison would be the Knights Who Say Ni, complete with silly voices, funny costumes, and clownish antics.
Madeline Rowe is actually trained in the art of clowning, and is a real talent. To be honest, I’ve never actually seen a clown show before, as I’ve accidently avoided them completely thus far, so I wasn’t sure what to expect – but colour me pleasantly surprised. They produced an hour full of slapstick buffoonery and physical comedy, complete with some occasional emotional beats that elicited loud gasps from the audience.
Rowe cajoles the audience with some limited interaction, but it’s all fun and games, and it’s all very much above board. After all, who wants to be the king’s wife? Who wants to be Guinevere? Anyone? Any takers?
Lengthwise, the hour-long time slot was ideal. Being quite a pared back production, it allowed the ridiculousness to just simply breathe. In some instances, I felt that some bits went on for just slightly too long, but I imagine that will be ironed out over the run. Rowe was just feeding off the audience energy, and for my showing, the audience loved it.
The one thing I would note is that it’s slightly hard to see sometimes when Rowe is interacting with the front row, but that’s more of a venue-specific issue. So just make sure you get yourselves a good seat upon entry.
Knight, Knight is a fun little character piece, perfect for anyone who’s looking for a quirky hour of slapstick clownery, Camelot style.
