As a terrorist, the antics of Aaron Barschak, the man who gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle, were laughable. As a comedian they were not.
Despite generating more publicity than any other performer at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the debut appearance of the self-styled "comedy terrorist" haswell and truly bombed.
In the intimate surroundings of the Smirnoff Underbelly - theatre capacity 120 - the audience numbered only 34, almost half of whom were representatives of the media who hadn't bought a ticket.
Dressed in an orange boiler suit over his now trademark pink ballgown, pubic wig and false beard extension, Barschak failed to raise more than a couple of laughs. As he "ummed", "erred" and bumbled his way through almost half-an-hour of satirical sketches, it was evident that with all the pre-publicity Barschak has been metaphorically writing cheques that his talent can't cash.
Only when he switched to an almost straight-talking mode for the remaining 30 minutes of his show, while recounting his escapade breaking into Windsor Castle, did he manage to hold the attention of his audience.
"I won't be telling anybody else to come and see this," said John Boland, from Ireland. "I was expecting to get a good laugh listening to him rant and rave about royal security, but he didn't."
