Bob: My strangest audience member ever

There are lots of strange people in Edinburgh during the Fringe, and I don’t just mean the performers. Sometimes an audience member can do something just as memorable and bizarre as anything a comedian can come up with.

During one show last year I noticed a middle-aged man sitting on the front row who was staring at me with what can only be described as "serial-killer eyes". Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the show so I decided to chat to him and try to get him involved. He barely responded to my questions, only revealing that his name was Bob. I moved on and tried to ignore him and his unsettling gaze for the rest of the show. "Oh well", I thought, "you can’t win them all".

After the show, things got a bit stranger. He was waiting for me outside and told me that he loved the show. "Odd that you didn’t tell your face", I thought. He then revealed that his name wasn’t Bob and that one of his favourite pastimes was going to comedy shows, sitting at the front and trying to psych-out the comedian by staring at him. "Wow", I thought, as I made my excuses and left, "what a weirdo!"

Then things got really strange.

Three days later he came to my show again, but this time he was accompanied by ten other people wearing matching black T-shirts. His T-shirt said: "I am Bob". Their T-shirts all said: "I’m With Bob". They sat in the front row and stared at me, like the members of a peculiar new cult.

I began to wonder if I was hallucinating, or if perhaps I was the victim of an elaborate hidden camera stunt. The show itself was unsurprisingly a bit tense. The rest of the audience were quite freaked out by the strange group at the front, and I kept expecting Bob to do something even weirder, maybe shout out the punchlines or rush the stage with his ten minions.

But no. He just stared, and refused to explain what was going on. I still have no idea what he was thinking.

All I know is that he was extremely, bizarrely memorable. And if I see someone just staring in my crowd this year I’m going to leave well alone. They might turn out to be another Bob.