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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Oh No
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Oh No

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd

YouTube · 2024 · 61 min

A relaxed Edinburgh club set about lockdown, depression, and meal kits.

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Released , on YouTube.

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd spends a good portion of this hour leaning casually against the exposed brick wall of the stage, talking about the time he pissed himself in his flat during lockdown. There is no triumphant third-act epiphany or tidy moral lesson attached. The reaction to losing work, staying inside, and deteriorating mentally is captured entirely by the title: a resigned ‘oh no’.

Filmed at Monkey Barrel Comedy in Edinburgh and directed by Stuart Laws, the 2024 release caught the Glaswegian comic right as his profile was expanding beyond the Scottish club circuit. Around the same time, he teamed up with Frankie Boyle and Susie McCabe to launch the podcast Here Comes the Guillotine, but this solo hour captures the domestic absurdity that built his reputation at the Fringe.

Much of the set picks apart the quiet indignities of everyday isolation. He recalls playing meal kit subscriptions HelloFresh and Gousto against each other for introductory discounts like an in-demand belle, points out why generic public advice to simply ‘talk to someone’ about depression is unhelpful, and questions why the documentary filmmaker who befriended an octopus seemed so clearly in love with it. Even when the subject shifts to a teenage holiday in Magaluf or getting harassed by an anti-masker on a ScotRail train, his delivery remains conversational.

Notable bits & set list

4 bits

  1. The inherent sadness of buses

    Anthropomorphizing city buses and their passengers, highlighting the mournful sighing sound made when stopped at traffic lights.

  2. Lockdown depression and Deliveroo addiction

    Reflecting with amused detachment on his mental unraveling during lockdown when stand-up became illegal, evidenced by his food delivery order history and an episode of incontinence.

  3. Dating a tall Australian girlfriend

    Contrasting tall Australians grown like sunflowers under continuous sunshine against Scots who grow sideways like weeds through cracks and have the posture of prawn crackers.

  4. Climate change and Scotland

    Joking about warmer weather being a temporary positive for Scotland before pivoting to critique corporate responsibility.

How it plays

Tone
Warm, laconic, and light-hearted despite tackling bleak, existential subjects like mental illness and despair.
On stage
Breezy, laid-back, and nonchalant with an endearingly child-like outlook combined with sharp, coolly rational intellect and Glaswegian working-class roots.
Pace
Casual, conversational, and relaxed, interspersed with animated act-outs and natural crowd interaction.
About
depression and mental health, lockdown, Scottish identity and masculinity, relationships, everyday life

What the critics said

Praised by critics as an assured, capable comedy pro whose easy conversational delivery, charm, and spontaneous wit successfully elevate dark and bleak subject matter into an uplifting hour.

In the room: Warm and receptive, responding well to his fluid crowd work and relaxed stage presence.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: justthecast.com, tubitv.com, medialib.net, filmalist.com, chortle.co.uk, list.co.uk, threeweeksedinburgh.com, broadwaybaby.com, christophermacarthurboyd.substack.com, 800poundgorillamedia.com.

Backstory

Material written and refined as the comedian emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, during which stand-up was stopped and he experienced severe depression and personal setbacks.

Details

Released
Taped
Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh
Runtime
61 min
Where
YouTube
Director
Stuart Laws
Topics
After
Scary Times (2025)

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