A review of Tom Read Wilson: A-Z of Me, Fringe 2026

I had relatively little knowledge of Tom Read Wilson prior to this show, but I’d seen him in interviews and like most of his fans been mesmerized by his voice. It is cut-glass RP and instantly transports you to a calmer, more civilized age. He’s been compared to Julie Andrews which I think is pretty apt. I suspect that most of the audience would have been happy with him reading the phone book.

Tom Read Wilson is a born performer. During the show, which was a delightful meandering round an A-Z of things he related to, he sang, danced, nailed Irish, Cornish and Scottish accents, recited sonnets and poetry…and told willy jokes. 

“Thank you for your warm hand on my opening” he began, before reciting Spike Milligan’s Alphabet Poem. It was the perfect way to begin, and he admitted the format was “just a peg to hang my bunting on” 

Format

Just Tom and a small supporting cast in a suitably civilized auditorium in the Royal Museum of Scotland. Accompanied by his keyboard artist and trusty Chalk Pen, he uses the giant A and Z as canvases to write a word for each letter of the alphabet. 

What to expect

Anecdotes, song, dance, sonnets, observations, all skillfully woven into an hour long show which shuts out out the often harsh world outside and invites you somewhere warm, welcoming and gentle.  There was a warning about adult language but nothing to shock or offend, just plenty of goodwill and a performer who genuinely loves to connect with his audience. 

He had plenty of warm words for his Scottish audience members, quoting “Lang may yer lum reek” before quoting Hermione Gingold who opined that Scotland is “…a lovely country but desperately needs a roof”. 

No-one could argue with that.

The show touches on smut but is never vulgar. There is a delicacy to Tom Read Wilson that tempts you to project all sort of longings onto him. He’s that teacher who really sees your potential when you feel ordinary and useless, a magical soul who sees beauty in everything and elevates language beyond the humdrum and everyday. 

Vibe

The pace and humour are gentle throughout. If you want to feel gathered to the bosom of charming, eccentric, talented performer who knows how to connect with an audience, entertained for an hour and then delicately deposited back to the real world, this show is perfect. He made me feel 15 again, having a crush on an adult which was more about feeling safe and accepted than a longing for anything physical.

Overall

Tom Read Wilson may be known as a celebrity, but he has none of the desperate, ersatz, fixed-smile, gimme-the-money-and-please-love-me harshness of that breed.

Instead, you have a polymath who is balm to the soul, and reminds us that, in his words: “When the world is hell-bent on destruction, how lovely to have something that is hell-bent on creation”