Scotland

Chopin’s Nocturne – Summerhall

“10:15am — WTF?!” is Aidan Jones’s opening exclamation, and a fair one. It’s not often you’re asked to laugh — and think — before your second coffee. But by the end of his 50-minute set, this Australian comedian and pianist has the audience fully on board, combining comedy and classical music with irreverence, warmth, and surprising emotional depth.

Chopin’s Nocturne is built around Frédéric Chopin’s much-loved Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 — a piece that, for many in the audience, will stir up memories. For me, it resonated deeply. My late father used to play the Nocturne when I was very young, and hearing it live again, laced with Jones’s affection and analysis, was unexpectedly moving. While the show is pitched as comedy, for me it was not funny in the conventional sense — or rather, its humour struck a different, dissonant chord, woven with nostalgia and loss.

Jones’s approach is anything but conventional. He riffs on his own life — from supermarket shelf-stacking to a failed audition at the Conservatorium (he cheekily refused to learn all the required pieces) — and charts the unlikely journey that led him to learn the Nocturne during Australia’s pandemic lockdown. His comedy is fast, self-deprecating, and rich in clever one-liners, and he isn’t afraid to throw in unexpected references — including Goya, somehow — that just about land.

There’s a gleeful irreverence in the way he deconstructs the music. His take on Chopin would likely make a musicologist wince, but that’s the point. He’s not here to lecture; he’s here to share how this piece has become part of his life — emotionally, intellectually, and comedically. He explores voicing, phrasing, chord structure and musical storytelling, all through a uniquely comic lens. It’s like an accidental music theory lesson delivered by someone who never quite got the lesson plan.

The performance ends with a full run-through of the Nocturne — not perfectly faithful to the score, but full of feeling. Jones plays like someone who loves the music, but can’t resist poking fun at its seriousness — or his own. It’s a fitting close to a show that is both light-hearted and oddly profound.

10:20 Daily (except 12^th) Till 25^th August

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/chopin-s-nocturne

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 5^th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: