Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Mike Wozniak: The Bench
Mike Wozniak
Genre: Comedy, One Person Show, Solo Show, Stand-Up
Venue: Assembly Main Hall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
A farcical caper straight out of Hot Fuzz or The Village Green Preservation Society, The Bench is a titillating whodunnit that invites the audience to get in on all of the best sleuthing action.
Review
Mike Wozniak is by no means a stranger to the Edinburgh Fringe, and has returned triumphant yet again with his newest touring stand-up hour of sleuthing done good, aka The Bench. A familiar face on the UK comedy circuit and to Taskmaster fans alike, Wozniak brings a show full of his signature wit and charm to the Assembly Main Hall, positing the ‘anecdote of anecdotes’ about the mortifying crime that has recently shocked his sleepy suburban community. What crime? I hear you ask. Arson. Specifically that of a prized memorial bench.
Throughout the hour, Wozniak takes us through a series of suspicious subjects, ranging from the dastardly to the downright devious, and invites the audience to get their best deerstalkers on. With segues on segues, more and more clues are revealed with every passing moment. Questions are invited, encouraged, even, and audience suggestions are answered with even more tantalising information as to who could have committed such an awful crime.
The success of the conceit rather depends on the audience, then, as more probing questions are more helpful in getting to the heart of the matter. Luckily for us, the audience of this particular night all seemed to be detectives in the making, so we had a lot of fun, but I can imagine that this set-up falls entirely at the whims of the crowd.
A farcical caper straight out of Hot Fuzz or The Village Green Preservation Society, The Bench is a titillating whodunnit that invites the audience to get in on all of the best sleuthing action. Crammed full of his dry sensibilities and trademark drollness, it’s often hard to remember that a significant chunk of the show must be improv – at least in the sense of answering audience questions – which makes it all the more impressive. If you’re already a fan of Mike Wozniak (and why wouldn’t you be?), you’re in for a fun treat ahead.
