Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Lara Ricote: INKLING
IAM
Genre: Comedy, Solo Show, Stand-Up
Venue: Monkey Barrel 3 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Lara Ricote has an inkling about something and she’s dying to share it with us. And we must listen. But we don’t need to understand it. 65% of it is enough.
Review
In an almost full room at Monkey Barrel, Lara pounces on the stage and captures our attention. She says things and we don’t understand the words, but we understand what she’s saying. It’s just that kind of a show. There are more ways to understand each other, you know?
She fully leans into this. She enters in her whacky, energetic persona and sets the room alight. She introduces herself and the show, talks about Oedipus, the events that unfold in that story and questions if miscommunication led to those events. She says things we somewhat get but are also quite confused about. She enjoys that. And then she yells “blackout!”.
Ricote has full control over the show. She holds us well, so that we can sit back and relax while rolling in her mud of confusion and mystery. She’s a comedy wizard. Her jokes hit you like a sucker punch and it takes a moment to realise why you laughed. She tells us that she’s hard of hearing, and that often she doesn’t fully grasp what someone is trying to tell her. Someone is always trying to tell her something, and she just misses out on what that message is. She partially understands, and that’s how she exists in the world.
And that’s how we exist in her show. We are in Ricote’s world, and it’s a joy to be there. Sometimes you feel like your boat is collapsing and you’re drowning and maybe you’re also pregnant, but Ricote saves the day and you’re back into other mysteries of her world. Her writing is sharp, clever and deeply silly. It’s one of those shows that will stay with you for a while after it’s over. She says she’s impressed with clowns, for they’re open to adapting and present, qualities which deeply inspire her. The good news is that she might be one herself, she just hasn’t understood it yet.
Ricote’s clever writing and playful physical comedy tickles both the mind and the soul. Even with the melodrama and the high-energy goofiness, you’re left feeling the gentle warmth of being invited into her home and seeing the things that make her who she is. In a deeply heartfelt bit, she asks what’s wrong with the world that wants to figure everything out? Why have we lost the joy of being in the mystery?
Ricote is hard of hearing and somehow that’s the best thing that could’ve happened to her. Because those of us who hear clearly and understand everything well might be losing out on the poetry in the world.
There’s a glass of water on the stage. The know-it-alls of the world would debate whether the glass is half full or half empty. Some might go beyond that and show you how to drink water from that glass. But only Ricote would show you how many ways exist to NOT drink the water from the glass. It really is just that kind of a show.
