“a gorgeously well-rounded show with genuine heart. Dane is outrageously funny, gloriously sassy, and disgustingly quick witted. “
*****
If it wasn’t clear by the loud Madonna T-shirt, the survey of the men in the audience (ordered by level of attractiveness), and an entirely fabulous entrance, Dane Buckley is gay. This much made very clear at the opening of the show. What you may need to dig deeper for is the story of his Indian-Irish roots, his journey through grief, and the impact of the women in his life.
At the top of the show, he explains that a debut hour is usually the introduction, the life story. And on this, Buckley presents a gorgeously well-rounded show with genuine heart. He is outrageously funny, gloriously sassy, and disgustingly quick witted. ‘Darling’ is a celebration of his family, his roots, as well as his own story, delivered through a series of side-splitting anecdotes.
Growing up as a half Indian, half Irish ‘Mammy’s boy’ with a speech impediment and a passion for carbohydrates has built a level of resilience in Buckley that provides ‘Darling’ with a clear throughline. A series of personal and entertaining impressions served to bring the women who influenced him to life, and by the half way point, they may as well have been in the room.
I found myself totally invested in Dane himself, as well as each character we were introduced to. His Irish aunties alone could supply a bottomless well of material, as would his childhood gift for having an innate ‘rolodex of sass’. But – with great power comes great responsibility, as it turns out being mouthy as a kid only works if you’re also fast enough to run away.
He manages to dance through the topics of race, class and coming out with a signature smile and wink, even approaching the subject of death with a disarming level of sass. Camp, he explains, is a tool born from grief. And it’s this thoughtfulness that elevates ‘Darling’ as a spectacular debut.
The show closes to the sound of an Appalachian dulcimer. Its unique Indian-Irish sound providing the perfect metaphor for Buckley’s cultural makeup.This unexpected musical ending ties up each thread, and provides a perfect landing for the core message: this house, and Buckley himself, was made from love.
Dane Buckley: Darling
Bunker One at Pleasance Courtyard
5-30 Aug | 18:00 (1hr)
Dane Buckley: Darling *****
Published on
Edinburgh Fringe 2026 
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