Larry Dean: Hellbent review – SNL UK star’s cheery riffs on romance and royalty

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Emotionally open and a little weirder than usual, the Glaswegian comic updates us on his recent marriage When SNL UK hit big earlier this year, it made stars of several comics just starting their careers.

That was not the case with Larry Dean , who has been peddling his brand of crowd-pleasing Glasgow comedy for well over a decade.

You know what you’re going to get with a show from the fringe veteran: little in the way of depth or innovation, but plenty of expert standup craft from a man whose body, face, voice and words are all oriented directly towards the funny.

While his act rarely changes, one discerns a scintilla more weirdness in 36-year-old Dean than in the cheeky-chappy, boy-next-door version of old.

He’s got up in a smoking jacket and artist’s bow tonight, as he updates us on his recent engagement and marriage to his Black Country beau, and on the autism diagnosis first outlined in his 2024 show Dodger .

There’s some riffing on the overlaps between gay and autistic, and a fun bit imagining the generation of “non-trauma gays” we might expect now homosexuality is no longer so stigmatised.

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