Young Edinburgh comedian Ayo Adenekan is hotly-tipped by several luminaries of the Scottish comedy scene so anticipation is high for his debut hour. It’s soon clear why he’s held in such regard so early in his career. ‘Black Mediocrity’ has all the expected beats for a calling card debut hour, but it’s obvious that the 23-year-old is an exceptional talent.

Adenekan quickly establishes his comedic persona as a meeting point of several converging identities, with a riff on his name that plays with his Nigerian roots and the Scottish dialect. The third weapon to this triple threat is his bisexuality, and he paints an impressionistic (and occasionally very, very candid) picture of his life to date largely through these three touchstones.

It’s delightfully apparent that not only does Ayo have charm for days and as relaxed a stage presence as you’ll see in a debut show, but he’s got a remarkable knack for a superb punchline. He has a lovely way of teasing expectations through the ‘rule of three’ before flipping a tale on its head. One gag in particular about how to talk to his friends about his dating life when their kids and/ or dogs are present is just uproarious brilliance.

What also impresses is how Adenekan deals with the seminal themes of his life with such a light touch. Even the frequent moments where he’s endured heinous racism are recounted through the lens of pop culture – such as XBox Live for example, or how it’s intersected with other aspects of his identity. One particularly illuminating tale where his race and sexuality are centred sees him express his frustration that his Nigerian mother was so accepting when he came out to her. ‘It was of no use at all to my narrative!’ he laments.

This moment perhaps gets to the core of Ayo Adenekan’s comedy; as a constant series of internal conversations between the various aspects of his identity that don’t always intersect neatly. Luckily for us, he chooses to present them on stage. This does mean that there’s a certain looseness to the show’s structure as he pinballs between his main themes. There’s also a description of a particularly traumatic experience that lands like a boulder in a still pond. It’s narratively important and it’s a potent moment, but Ayo immediately switches back to the delicate touch he employs for the rest of the show.

Minor structural issues aside, ‘Black Mediocrity’ is an exceptional introduction to an exciting new voice of a kind that’s been sorely lacking in the otherwise thriving Scottish scene. There are some young comedians of whom you can anticipate just how nice it will be to see them grow and get better and better, and there is no doubt Ayo Adenekan is right up there.

‘Black Mediocrity‘ is at Monkey Barrel Comedy – CabVol 2 until Sun 24 Aug 2025 at 13:30