‘It felt like this might never happen again’: comedians rejoice at the return of crowds

The lights go down signalling the start of the show, but Rob Auton is not on stage. Members of the crowd begin to glance around, especially when, from the back of the room, a rich North Yorkshire voice starts chanting: “We want Rob!” The audience picks up the chant. One woman stamps her feet, others join in. And then, Auton extracts himself from the crowd and takes his place on stage.

The Crowd Show is comedian Auton’s post-pandemic return to the Edinburgh fringe and while he began writing it before we’d ever heard of Covid-19, our collective time in isolation gave the concept fresh significance. “I wanted to speak about people being together. It took on a whole new life when we weren’t allowed to do it any more,” Auton says. “This experience of being at the fringe has made me realise the scale of what we’ve been through.”

Across a playful, reflective hour, Auton instigates games that unite the crowd, and encourages meditation on group dynamics, the give-and-take between audience and performer, and the crowds that we choose for ourselves.

Confined to the flat he shares with his partner when lockdown was announced, live shows obviously ceased, so Auton began speaking to people via a daily podcast. “But it didn’t give me the same thrill,” he says. “Nothing is the same as connecting with someone in real life, is it?”

Driven by a similar urge, standup Vix Leyton conceived a lockdown panel show on Twitch, which became the Comedy Arcade podcast. Recorded on Zoom, she was joined by comedian guests who, prompted by a topic plucked from a bingo ball cage, competed to tell the best anecdote.

Now it’s a live show at the fringe. Finally, the panellists are together on stage, faced with a real crowd. “The audience become an extra player in the game, they’ve been getting involved, shouting out their own answers,” Leyton says. She introduced audience interaction – paddles they can raise to change the course of the game by, for example, calling for a new topic or awarding someone double points for a great anecdote. “There’ve been a couple of moments when you’re looking out at the room and can’t believe it,” she says. “It felt like this might never happen again.”

When Jo Griffin was last at the fringe, it was as part of sketch duo Lola & Jo. Last year, she decided to start standup and wrote People Person, a show about being a people pleaser. It features friendly audience interaction, culminating in a little quiz. “I do lean on the audience more: they’re like my Lola,” she says. “I want people to feel safe to chip in. I really like that feeling of a dialogue – the audience do have power as to whether they’re going to get on the fun bus or not.”

For comedians, crowds are the ultimate careers adviser, Auton says. You’ve got to accept their energy and navigate any hiccups. “Once you get on stage, everything is part of the show,” he says. “People have got more on their minds than they used to. We’ve been through a lot and the shockwaves of that are still going through people.” During the show he encourages us to consider what everyone around us might be going through: “It’s just a rallying cry for trying to find the best in people.”

Post-pandemic, Griffin felt a renewed love for crowds: “The whole show began because I was so excited to be back in a room with people – I just wanted to give people a hug.” Her show’s finale is an energising surprise that leaves the audience on a high: “After everyone being on screens, I wanted to create something that couldn’t be recorded, where you have to be in the room to experience it.”

All three are part of the crowd of artists in the Scottish capital. For Leyton’s show, on Zoom it could be hard to read cues or interact. In person, it flows. “If you’re a comedian who wants to spend time with your peers, it’s so much fun. It’s not like doing a 10-minute spot and running off, you are together.” The room bonds over secrets revealed: “There’s a frisson in the air when someone says ‘I don’t think I should talk about this’. It’s nice that comedians feel safe to do that with us.”

While Griffin doesn’t have her sketch partner on stage, she feels buoyed by her fellow comedians. “With standup, I’m relatively new to it, but there’s a real camaraderie,” she says.

In his show, Auton examines his own feelings about being in crowds. “I wanted to look into myself: why do I feel the urge to get up in front of people? Maybe I’m talking about connectivity and never really feeling like I fitted in, then that’s why you go on stage.” It’s easy to retreat into your own world, Auton tells his crowd, but through live performance, he can take us there with him.

At the show’s crescendo, real feeling sweeps the room, people surreptitiously dab their eyes. “I want to get to a stage in the performance where I feel safe enough to pull myself open. If I can make myself feel, I can make you feel. In that moment, we’ve all been in it together.”

Related: Who wants a lockdown one-liner? How comics are covering Covid at Edinburgh fringe

Ultimately, comedy couldn’t happen without a crowd. “It’s 50:50 to create the atmosphere, like a friendship or a date. We all have to agree to make it work,” Griffin says.

“Audiences can be support networks,” says Auton. “Come at it with love and make them feel how much you appreciate them being there. It’s brilliant that we’re back up here, trying to create something that’s positive and beautiful and connecting with people.”

• Rob Auton: The Crowd Show is at Assembly George Square, Edinburgh, until 29 August. Jo Griffin: People Person is at Assembly Roxy, until 28 August. The Comedy Arcade is at Underbelly Bristo Square, until 28 August.