“IMOGeN andrews brings her cast of wacky characters to the fringe in a commendable debut “
***
Online star Imogen Andrews brings her brand of character comedy to a debut hour at the Fringe. With hundreds of millions of TikTok views, she has clearly mastered the art of short-form skits. Whether this can translate to a live show is a question many more recent additions to the festival have faced.
Having little exposure to her content, I was encountering each persona for the first time, including Imogen as herself (a role, she explained, she was less comfortable in). The show starts as Imogen, clad in a lime-green suit, clambers out of a tent and introduces us to one of her many characters – An estate agent with a familiarly grating vocal fry sets about valuing the venue.
Her characters are colourful, her acting chops clearly present as she embodies each insecure caricature. The issue seems to be that without the confines of a 40-second reel, awkward pauses and transitions can’t be edited out on stage, and indeed we were sometimes left wanting as costumes were hastily donned backstage.
There’s clearly talent here: she has an instinct for theatre and real stories to tell. What isn’t clear is how it all fits together in ‘The Unlikable Worms’. It feels as if Andrews meant for this to be a showcase of her established characters, but at some point was told that ‘Fringe shows need personal stories’. Which can be true, but this show can’t quite figure out what direction to head in.
‘Lena’ teaches women how to approach men, and her attempts at wooing a man in the front row fall expectedly flat. Unfortunately, the audience weren’t playing ball, with pleas for interaction sometimes feeling like hard work. The crowd at large probably caught about half the balls thrown at them, which could be put down to insufficient warm-up.
If there is a way to tie together a hinge date red flag, a desperate estate agent, a dating coach and a Bonnie Blue parody, Andrews hadn’t quite found it yet. There were moments of brilliance: ‘middle class mum’ could have been mined for more laughs, but her scene felt particularly unanchored as she somehow found herself in a recording studio, which felt a little forced.
Despite the disjointedness, credit should be given to the creative ways Andrews used multimedia to join the online and physical worlds. Livestreaming combined with pre-recorded skits provided some of the biggest laughs, alongside a few unashamed panto tricks involving a masked intruder.
Given more stage experience and a little more direction, Imogen Andrews has the potential to craft something truly brilliant with her wacky creations.
Imogen Andrews: The Unlikable Worms
Ace Dome at Pleasance Dome
5-31 Aug | 21:30 (1hr)
Imogen Andrews: The Unlikable Worms ***
Published on
Edinburgh Fringe 2026 
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