Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Jonathan Oldfield: Exquisite Corpse
Jonathan Oldfield
Genre: character comedy, One Person Show, Solo Show
Venue: Pleasance
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Whether it’s an ET-inspired sketch with some generous audience participation to an impressive display of Diablo skills, it’s an hour-long chaotic romp through the insides of Oldfield’s brain, with a whole lot of carnage along the way.
Review
Exquisite Corpse is Jonathan Oldfield’s debut comedy show – but not Fringe debut – and what a show it is. A mishmash of character comedy, improv, and silliness galore, it’s like a Christmas assortment of Quality Street in that you never know what you’re going to get next. Whether it’s an ET-inspired sketch with some generous audience participation to an impressive display of Diablo skills, it’s an hour-long chaotic romp through the insides of Oldfield’s brain, with a whole lot of carnage along the way.
The show itself is loosely based around a game that Oldfield used to play as a child, Exquisite Corpse. In it, you have three different players design three different parts of a person, either the head, torso, or legs, and the result of which gets added together to create, well, something. After some audience sketching sessions as the crowd filled in, we were left with a rotating mannequin with a dozen different character possibilities, all of which Oldfield attempted to bring to life throughout the hour. Some arguably were stronger than others, but he flexed some impressive improv skills to bring to life creatures probably more at home as part of the Munsters or the Addams Family.
Oldfield is a multifaceted performer, and many eagled-eyed Fringe-goers may have seen him in other productions over August, such as Kanpur 1857, a significant tonal change from his comedy work. He’s clearly a talented artist, and that was even before he showed off his language chops with a few multilingual sketches as well. Overall, this was a fun show, complete with a whole variety of laughs throughout to keep you entertained. And to think he managed the entire Fringe run with a broken arm. Kudos!
