Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Anti Fascist Pasta Night
Ron Placone
Genre: Stand-Up
Venue: Laughing Horse at Westport part of the Free Festival
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Ron Placone is back at the festival, having been here in 2023. This time round he has brought a railing against the current state of politics and life in America. In an hour of anecdotes and observations he takes us on an amusing wander through why cats are anti-fascist and things make little sense in the US to the point where he tells us of the origin of the title of the show. Mussolini banned pasta and so partisans held regular Anti-fascist Pasta Nights and there are apparently some in the UK including one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh.
Review
Placone is an engaging performer and his stand-up is easy to like and enjoy. The material tonight meandered a little at times but followed a flow. Instead of telling flat-out jokes, Placone highlights the absurdity of a current political administration that is very difficult to satirise given that it is satirical by its own very nature.
The venue was pretty odd. Downstairs at Westport there is a small space used for their shows which on one side is filled with aircraft seats. It makes looking at this stage from anything apart from the side aisle quite difficult, but it doesn’t detract from Placone’s set.
It was never going to be a circus act that you might lose some perspective on.
The stories told are really interesting and I came away wanting to know more about this filmmaker’s podcast with his father for example. I wanted to know more about his filmmaking! The question and answer session as well I found interesting and Placone is well able to work a crowd, though perhaps given the small nature of the venue he got less of a crowd than he was used to.
Technically there was not much to it, as there are not always in Free Festival shows, though Placone gave a warning halfway through as to what was going to come at the end obviously wanting to make sure he had his airfare home, which he continued to use to make amusing commentary upon. One wonders of ICE will meet him at the Terminal, given his subject material.
Anti-fascist Pasta Night introduced me to a phenomenon I had not been aware of – the resistance through food – and in the context of where we are just now it is vital to understand our fight against fascism is one that should always be at the forefront of our mind. They don’t go away, they just adopt a different suit, a different hairstyle and they may even mimic what you wear. Vigilance is key. Anti-fascist Pasta Night does exactly what it sets out to do. This is a stand-up which amuses.
