As I cross the threshold of US comedian Moses Storm’s Edinburgh fringe show, I’m handed a white coat. Now part of an identically dressed crowd, I descend into the basement venue. Ambient music hums and fairy lights twinkle. Then a drumbeat punctuates our chatter and two figures wearing ram’s head masks march slowly into sight. A bell rings. For some reason, we all stand.
Storm spent his childhood in a “failed cult”: in a way, he is embarrassed that it wasn’t a more successful one. So tonight, with our help, he is going to form the perfect cult. “As far as starting a cult, trying to get people on board with an idea, there’s just such an obvious parallel with comedy,” he says. “It’s the same struggle.”
