Edinburgh Fringe performer Ralph Brown recalls terrifying moment man wielding replica gun interrupted show

Edinburgh comedian vows to get back on stage to finish his Fringe run

An Edinburgh comedian has spoken out after a man wielding a replica gun ran onto the stage during his show.

Portobello-born stand-up Ralph Brown, 37, was half-way through his set when a man entered the Fringe venue at The Waverley on St Mary’s Street and started heckling him. After five minutes, the man approached Ralph on stage with a gun. After a scuffle on stage, Ralph and the 20 or 30 audience members in attendance fled outside, before police arrived to arrest the man and recover the gun, which turned out to be an imitation firearm.

A 43-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has since been charged in connection with the incident.

Portobello comedian Ralph Brown, pictured on stage at The Waverley

Recalling the terrifying moment a man waved a gun on stage, Ralph said: “It was pretty wild. Not what I was expecting at a fairly average show on a Wednesday night. We normally get the hecklers at the weekend.

"To be honest, the guy didn’t seem drunk or anything like that. The audience was terrified, it was like a hostage situation. I think it went on for about five minutes. He came in on his own, about halfway through my set and he sat right at the back. He started heckling, I can’t really remember what he was saying, so I just told him I would talk to him after the show.

"He stayed quiet for ten seconds or so, then he went on a rant which didn’t make sense. Then he started asking me a question over and over again and said ‘would you believe me if I pointed a gun at your head’.

"That’s when he started walking towards me, demanding my microphone. I think at the time people thought it was part of the show.”

Ralph revealed he never for a second thought that the gun was fake and that he feared for his life on stage during his Fringe show. He said: "I genuinely thought it was a gun, I thought I was going to get shot, 100 per cent. He tried to get the mic so I resisted and we had a tussle with me trying to get the gun off him, I fell off the stage at that point.

"Then he said he would solve the world’s problems in two minutes. He kept arguing with me and eventually he said ‘don’t be scared, the gun’s not real’. Then he just gave me the gun. People legged it out of the room. I ran outside and chucked the gun under a car, the building was evacuated by that point, but he was still inside, on the stage.”

The man then came outside asking for his gun back and was told it was still inside so he went back upstairs, before reappearing on the street just as the police arrived to arrest him.

Ralph has been performing stand-up for seven years and this is his fourth run at the Fringe. After Wednesday’s terrifying show, he is just looking forward to getting back to doing what he does best, making people laugh.

He said: "I’m feeling alright now. I cancelled the show yesterday, to take a bit of time to deal with what happened. But I’m back on tonight. My show is about how unlucky I am and the mental things that have happened to me, and this happens during my show, it’s bizarre.

"I’m now looking forward to getting back on stage tonight. My way of dealing with things is I just have to try and make fun of it. But I know there were people in that audience on Wednesday night who are still terrified.

"It was actually a good show until that point. Audience members told me while we were all standing outside that they had actually enjoyed it until the guy with the gun appeared. I’ve actually had a great run at the Fringe so far this year, it’s been really busy. I have not had any reviewers in yet, but I have had a guy with a gun.

"I’m just glad everyone made it out on Wednesday, nobody got hurt and the guy was caught. If he was still on the run I might feel different about getting back to the show tonight.”

Ralph Brown: Ralpha Male, is on at Fringe Venue 438 at The Waverley, St Mary’s Street, 10pm, August 11-13, 15-20 and 22-27.