Rob Auton has never been the most conventional comedian. His particular spin on the artform blurs the lines between absurdist gags, trite shower-thoughts, and heartrending poetic speeches. His latest show blends many of these aspects and shoots them into space: Jupiter, specifically. Auton plays an estate agent selling houses back on Earth to a curious couple. He uses this as a device to look back on his home planet with the kind of abstract detachment he has always revelled in. Whilst ostensibly alien, Jupiter could well be the most earnestly human Auton has ever been.  

The show begins with a rushed preamble to establish the sci-fi setting. Auton appears on stage with his usual scruffy beard and geography teacher suit, albeit now lit up in swirling neon lights and soundtracked by space age synths. Far out, indeed. If anyone is aware of how silly this seems, it’s Auton himself. The ‘plot’ is a distraction, a tool to get us from one bit to another. It’s affirming to know that Auton is in on the joke when he deliberately switches accents for his supporting characters or lets a clunky passage hang, followed by a promise that a ‘real joke’ is coming soon. You do wonder though whether he may not have been better developing the conceit of his time in space further, or abandoning it altogether, if it is, indeed, something to be derided and largely ignored.

The best parts of the show are when Auton bares his fascinating brain and his powerful soul and treats us to an extended tale or quizzical thought which makes the hairs on your neck stand to attention. A poem about a neighbour’s tortoise manages to be equal parts hilarious and tragic. One passage where the imaginary couple flip through Auton’s notebook contains a barrage of insane one liners with such subtle power you can almost feel jealous of the mind that cooked them up. 

Like Bowie’s Major Tom, Auton’s rise to success has left him feeling isolated from himself and the world that once inspired him. The show ends with Auton’s character returning to Earth, bestowed with a new appreciation for the extraordinary everyday. As the applause fades, and the audience step blinking from the auditorium into the bright Edinburgh day, they might just feel the same. 

‘Jupiter‘ is at Central at Assembly Roxy until Sun 30 Aug 2026