Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 Review: Steffan Alun: Windows – Hoot 4 at Hoots @ The Apex

Review by Harri Dimdore-Miles

Steffan Alun is a charming welsh bisexual who delivers an hour of upbeat relatable comedy about how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. Alun is immediately a warm and trusted presence on stage. Whether it’s about his sexuality, his self-labelled dorky hobbies or his possible autism, Alun’s openness creates a warm and homely atmosphere that gets you ready to laugh like you’re with a friend. His charisma and confidence behind the mic, show evident experience in knowingly building the crowd to a well thought out pay-off.

Alun covers a whole host of topics, from sexuality and trains, to pub quizzes and flags. He transitions without difficulty between sections, sharing various witty qualms and resonant opinions about why we act the way we act. Despite being smooth in practice the topics do feel a little far apart and are often linked quite tangentially to the through line. The central theme seems to be identity, perception and generally feeling unsure of ourselves. He returns throughout the show to the debate he and his mother had about whether his childhood had two or three bedrooms. Which to Alun represents a deeper question – was he working class or not? It a fun mystery for the audience and the payoff is witty and in Alun’s rather cheeky style. However, the broad stroke theme of identity feels linked quite disparately to each topic and gets lost. This unfortunately resulted in the overall effect of lots of separate funny anecdote and observational comedy, rather than a really cohesive story or message.

That being said as far as observational stand-up comedy goes, Alun is engaging, self-aware and silly. He delivers an hour of consistent and reliable laughter. If you’re looking for a high joke count then ‘Windows’ is a great pick, not a minute went by where the audience weren’t chuckling. Some jokes were a little unoriginal, however, it’s Alun’s friendly and quietly mischievous demeanour that creates humour throughout regardless of the subject. I was very happy to sit back relax and laugh with Alun for an hour.