Photo by Ben Broomfield https://www.benbroomfield.com/ @photobenphoto
Mr John Robertson:
Hello! I’m a comedian, streamer, author, improviser, actor, videogame writer,
insult comic and human hurricane.
LGBTQIA+, gamer, Goth, geeky and goddamn good at screaming at large groups.
My crowd are diverse, perverse, wholesome, yet awful.
Been a working stand-up for 20 years, headlining shows all around the world,
created live-action videogame comedy The Dark Room
(which is also an actual videogame, an online show and was a YouTube hit in 2012)
stream 10 times a week on twitch.tv/robbotron, where our community are called Fuckloaves
and are DIVERSE, PERVERSE, WHOLESOME, YET AWFUL – and have raised A LOT OF MONEY FOR CHARITY (also we have our own wiki!)
wrote the Puffin novel The Little Town Of Marrowville,
done a TEDx talk on the semiotics of film and social media
can and have done three 50 hour marathon shows for charity,
faked a seizure on Australian Idol and met my wife doing it,
been published in horror anthologies,
hosted two years of the UK’s only videogame TV show,
been the world’s greatest cosplay competition MC (terrible crowd surfer, though),
and done a lot of it while being better dressed than the average vampire.
In 2012, I created “The Dark Room“, an interactive YouTube game that went viral.
After 4,000,000 hits, I turned the game
into a live comedy show at Edinburgh Fringe 2012.
It has a cult following of people who call themselves Darrens.
Don’t ask questions.
The Dark Room was the cult hit of that year’s festival. It led to collaborations with BBC, Comic Relief, FremantleMedia, Hat Trick Productions and PIAS.
The Dark Room is permanently on tour, and has returned to every Edinburgh Fringe and become the world’s only live-action videogame.
I tour to places and events like Glastonbury, Soho Theatre, Insomnia Gaming Expo, PAX Online, London Film & Comic-Con, Download, BlueDot Festival, Fringe festivals, your house and corporate events.
My kick-ass clothes are made by Gallery Serpentine
and yours should be, too.
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STAND-UP
“★★★★ his material is edgy, intelligent and smoothly-delivered… this is astute, amoral stand-up for the morbidly inclined” – The Age, Melbourne
I do high-energy improvised stand-up, talk a tonne about sex, gaming and pop culture, tour The Dark Room and either write new hour shows or create new solo shows by playing with the crowd. Here’s some of the shows:
2024: The Dark Room (PAX East, Worldcon, Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe)
2024: You Bring Me Your Opinions And I’ll Tell You Why You’re Wrong (Leicester Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe)
2023: The Dark Room (Winner – Weekly Award Best Comedy FringeWorld Perth)
2022: The Dark Room (Sell-Out Edinburgh Fringe)
2019: The Dark Room (Total Sell-Out Edinburgh Fringe)
2018: Sweaty Sexy Party Party (Edinburgh Fringe)
2017: Dominant! (Edinburgh Fringe, Utrecht Comedy Festival)
2016: Arena Spectacular (nominated Edinburgh Fringe
Amused Moose Award, Fringeworld)
2016: The Dark Room 4.0 (Udderbelly London, EdFringe, Nottingham Comedy Festival, Leicester Comedy Fest, Magners International Comedy Festival, Insomnia Festival, Southbound)
2015: Let’s Redecorate! (Edinburgh Fringe, Leicester Comedy Fest)
2015: The Dark Room 3.0 (Udderbelly London, EdFringe, Soho Theatre)
2014: A Nifty History of Evil (Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton Fringe
2014: The Dark Room 2.0 (Winner – Argus Angel, Brighton Fringe)
2013: The Dark Room (Edinburgh Fringe)
2012: The Dark Room (Edinburgh Fringe)
2011: Dragon Punch (Edinburgh Fringe, Winner – Best Show – Wild West Comedy Festival, Supanova Pop Culture Expo)
2010: A Nifty History of Evil (Edinburgh Fringe, Winner – Critic’s Choice – Wild West Comedy Festival)
2009: Don’t Swallow (Blue Room Theatre,
Nominated Biggest Box Office 2009)
2008: Love Of A Pitiful Instrument (Blue Room Theatre)
2006: Killing Hun in the Sun (Rechabites Hall, Nominated Equity Award – Best New Play)
I’ve toured the Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Czechia, Singapore, Germany, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Australia, Vietnam, the UK and Ireland, performed corporate shows for the BBC, Octopus Energy, Jagex, Bethesda, 7thingsmedia, EB Games Australia, the Australian Web Awards, GAME and Rio Tinto – and worked in comedy clubs around the planet, including The Comedy Store, Glee, Off The Kerb, Komedia, Little Wander, Jongleurs, Manfords, Comedy For Depression @ Union Chapel, The Stand, Sydney Comedy Store, Top Secret Comedy Club, XS Malarkey, Trapdoor Comedy, Sit-Down Comedy Club, TakeOut Comedy Hong Kong, The Mic In Hand, Local Laughs, Spleen Bar, Brisbane Powerhouse, Happy Endings Sydney, The Laugh Resort, Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den, Purple Cactus, Baby Blue Banana Budapest, Komedia, The Comedy Lounge, The Rhino Room, His Majesty’s Theatre (Perth), Funhouse Comedy, NCF Comedy, Eminent Banter, The Comedy Club, Soho Comedy Club, Top Secret Comedy Club, The Comic’s Lounge, The Old Manly Boatshed, The Comedy Hour, Packsaddle Comedy, Enmore Theatre, Soho Theatre and Leicester Square Theatre.
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Critical Acclaim
“★★★★ A splendid comedy beast.” – The Scotsman, “★★★★★ – if your tastes run to the dark, you must see this show – British Comedy Guide, ★★★★ “stylish, alternative, funny” – Chortle, “Brilliant, bemusing and bloodthirsty” – Metro, “A cult is born” – Bruce Dessau, ★★★★- The List, “★★★★★ he strides onto the stage giving precisely zero fucks”- The Skinny, “★★★★ a triumph” – Herald Sun, “★★★★★ You must see The Dark Room at least once in your life” Scottish Sun, “Watching audiences tackle the challenge and fail is one of the funniest sights around… don’t miss it.” – Daily Telegraph, Sydney
“NOT TO BE MISSED” Guardian
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Columnist + Writer
My dad was a journalist, so to make him proud (and also money), I’ve written op-ed pieces for Cleo, Vice, The Huffington Post, SBS Comedy and The List. Have a peek at a Vice article here.
I’ve written material for podcasts The Gargle, The Last Post, wrote The Dark Room videogame, and, of course, my gothic adventure novel for kids.
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Awards
2023 – FringeWorld Critics Choice – The Dark Room For Kids (nominated)
2023 – FringeWorld Best Comedy – The Dark Room (nominated)
2022 – NextUp Biggest Award In Comedy – Edinburgh Fringe (runner-up)
2020 – Chortle Award – Legend Of Lockdown for Twitch.TV/Robbotron
2018 – Best Children’s Show – The Dark Room For Kids – Leicester Comedy Festival
2016 – ThreeWeeks Critics Choice Award – Body Of Work – Edinburgh Fringe
2016 – Amused Moose Award, Edinburgh Fringe – Arena Spectacular!
2014 – Argus Angel Award, Brighton Fringe – The Dark Room
2011 – Best Show, Wild West Comedy Festival – Dragon Punch
2010 – Best Comedy Performance – DarkChat Edinburgh Fringe – A Nifty History Of Evil
2010 – Critics Choice, Wild West Comedy Festival – A Nifty History Of Evil
2010 – Artists Choice, Wild West Comedy Festival – A Nifty History Of Evil
2006 – Best New Play, Perth Equity Guild Awards – Killing Hun In The Sun (nominated)