John Robertson: Dominant

Those expecting the live action video game thrills of Robertson’s The Dark Room might be in for a bit of a shock if they follow the white-blond antipodean on his tales of outré sexual predeliction in new hour Dominant.

Robertson starts the show late as a number of ticket holders are yet to show (which would nearly double the crowd), which means, teeth bared, our host can get to know his audience more intimately. The problem being that he enjoys playing with the comfort zones of those in front of him so much he barely remembers to start his show, and when he finally does it's in a staccato fashion that belies Robertson’s storytelling ability.

There’s a great show about the sexual awakening of a young bullied boy who grew up to be the master of every room he finds himself in, including drawing a crowd for his prowess during one trip ‘downstairs’ at a sex dungeon. Unfortunately, for tonight at least, this wasn’t it. Robertson assures his audience at the end that tomorrow’s show would be completely different, and it’s hard to see how a 10-minute long, super intense staring contest with a singular audience member—or any of the other tangents he spun off on—could be repeated.

He will no doubt hit audience members with even more bizarre surprises as the Fringe rolls on, for good or ill, and you never know: one of them might be the actual show.