TikTok stars leap from small screen to the Edinburgh stage

Adrian Bliss had never performed a stand up routine until he appeared at Edinburgh Fringe this year. Before the festival even opened, however, he had already sold out the entire month.

Bliss began making whimsical TikTok videos during the winter lockdown when people were desperate for light relief. He impersonated anything, from common sayings such as an early worm, to unfortunate animals, like the rooster that oversleeps, and victims of history — an embittered Van Gogh’s ear.

It all started with Mary and Joseph. Bliss, who had a YouTube following, dressed up as the couple for a Christmas video which he uploaded on TikTok, a new site at the time. “Then I thought of an idea with a dinosaur, so I bought a dinosaur costume