Fresh off the back of a successful debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, three-time shortlisted British Comedian of the year, Darran Griffiths presents his debut show, Inconceivable.

This very personal show, comically and candidly, details the journey of tackling infertility and IVF. In the pursuit of becoming a dad, a better husband and (maybe) a better person, he faces battles with stereotypes, masculinity and a soggy biscuit.

BBC New Comedy semi-finalist 2022. The Sun's Twenty must-see comedy shows.

Support for Russell Howard, Iain Stirling, Travis Jay.

★★★★ Arts Desk

★★★★ Wee Review

★★★★ Why Now Magazine

'punchy but playful' Chortle

'Razor-sharp' Independent

'Consistently funny, emotionally-powerful, and ultimately uplifting' Wee Review

'His charismatic and easy-going attitude make him an engaging storyteller' Ed Fest Mag

'Griffiths, a warm presence on stage, is a talented storyteller and Inconceivable is an assured debut' Arts Desk

'A warm hour' Scotsman

December 13, 2023    Why Now

Darran Griffiths review | Masculinity, race and male fertility with a smile

Darran Griffiths is making his Fringe debut with Inconceivable, a show that demonstrates natural charm and an ability to weave a story, tackling serious topics in a light-hearted manner from start to finish.

Don’t let the surname fool you; Darran Griffiths is an Essex lad. He might have left the Essex behind and now exists in a plane of middle-class comfort (he’s having arguments over fences and making Dad jokes somewhere in Hertfordshire), but the boisterous, laddish Essex charm still shines through.

For the show’s opening portion, Griffiths tackles race in Essex, family dynamics, masculinity and what it was like being a black man dating women of other races. While it’s all seemingly serious topics, Griffiths’s lightheartedness means it never really gets too heavy. It’s playful.

However, these subjects are only the preamble to what Griffiths is really here to talk about. The crux of the show is male fertility – or lack thereof. Masculinity and race in modern Britain are both undercurrents present in Griffiths’ day-to-day life and, therefore present in each story he tells. Still, it is fertility that gives Inconceivable its name, and it is this topic that Griffiths devotes the majority of the hour-long slot towards discussing.

A comedy show should not be a lecture, and Inconceivable never is, but it is lovely to come away from a show and feel like you’ve learned something. In this case, unless you’ve been through the bureaucratic rigamarole and emotional turmoil of trying to conceive, you learn a lot. Griffiths remains funny and just when the subject matter is beginning to get too intense, Griffiths delivers a gag or references something from back in the show.

Oftentimes this works, keeping the crowd guessing, but on occasion, you can sense what Griffiths is doing: wanting to break the tension rather than letting it fester and then harnessing it. As he performs more and writes more hour-long shows like this one, the fluidity between “story time” and “joke time” will improve. Nonetheless, Griffiths is always engaging and informative, with an emotional intelligence that ensures the story never seems overly insular or personal. It is tender and revealing but nationwide in its scope. Click Here For Review

December 13, 2023    The Arts Desk

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Darran Griffiths

Lots of comics talk about sex in their shows but few do so with such charm and purpose as Darran Griffiths with Inconceivable, his debut hour.

The purpose is that it's about the struggle Griffiths and his wife went through to conceive their children. The charm is that Griffiths is very upfront about who of them bore the greater burden. “We didn't give birth. We didn't do shit,” he says at the top of the show. “We were in the same room, in different places.” It's not the first time he's satisfyingly self-deprecating.

So we know the result of their tribulations, but how the couple arrived there fills the hour nicely.

Along the way you will hear about a soggy biscuit (don't ask), the trials of wanking to order, interracial dating and the irritation of being on the receiving end of freely given but rarely welcome advice to couples having difficulty conceiving.

It's a serious subject, and Griffiths' take on it is heartfelt, but never po-faced. If the show ever takes a sad turn, he has a belter of a change of pace or a punchline following.

Griffiths, a warm presence on stage, is a talented storyteller and Inconceivable is an assured debut. Click Here For Review

December 13, 2023    The Wee Review

DARRAN GRIFFITHS INCONCEIVABLE REVIEW

Darran Griffiths starts off his Fringe debut with a light-hearted array of jokes about his life as a black man from Essex. He hits all of the classic expected talking points, race, sex, and his dating history. All of them are great subjects that have the crowd on his side.

However, Griffiths gets serious when he moves onto the main topic of his show – his fertility issues and the lengthy IVF process he and his wife went through to conceive their first child. Whilst he doesn’t miss out on the chance to mine the subject matter for jokes, Griffiths makes sure to emphasise the emotional impact of the whole experience on him and his wife. He notes at one point how they were worried that their child would have chromosomal abnormalities, whilst also noting the racial inequalities within the information provided by medical services.

He does a great job in ensuring that the effect the whole process had on his wife is also acknowledged, showing a sensitivity that contrasts nicely with the more blokey opening. What comes across is that the experience changed Griffiths as a person for the better, with a joke beforehand about bedtime stories showing how he’s managed to adjust to fatherhood without going too soft.

‘Inconceivable‘ is a consistently funny, emotionally-powerful, and ultimately uplifting show about an issue that affects many that avoids preachiness at all costs. Griffiths is a confident performer with an undeniable stage presence and a great ability to flip between funny and serious – let’s hope he returns to Edinburgh next year. Click Here For Review