The Vampire Run
Overview
A dark and stormy night. A vampire’s castle outlined by lightning. An hour to find and kill the dreaded fiend. And one idiot trying to manage the escalating chaos.
The Vampire Run is a fast-paced, hilariously deadly choose-your-own adventure. Three audience members at a time must decide how to approach a variety of obstacles to reach the vampire’s chamber, BUT one of them is evil and the rest of the audience must decide who before it’s too late. All hosted by the macabre lovechild of Vincent Price and Little Alex Horne.
Audiences 14+ due to themes and language, with particular appeal to horror fans, boardgamers, Dungeons & Dragons players and improv fans.
Strong elements of improv, clowning and character comedy with a generous pinch of horror tropes in a fully interactive show that the audience can join in with as much or as little as they choose.
It’s the most fun you can have dying horribly.
The Vampire Run debuted at The Lambeth Fringe in 2025, and has since been performed at Brighton, Bedford and Camden fringes, plus a successful 18 night run at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe. The show enjoyed sellout nights in Lambeth, Brighton and Edinburgh.
It takes inspiration from roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, roguelike videogames like Slay the Spire, social deduction games like Blood on the Clocktower, and Choose Your Own Adventure books like the Fighting Fantasy series. Classic horror tropes, such as creaking doors, haunted dolls, dark and stormy nights, and looming butlers all add to the mix.
The show was created and is performed by Jonathan Laury. Jonathan is a classically trained actor and award winning writer and performer. He has trained in clowning with Spymonkey and Mick Barnfather, improv with Hoopla, stand-up with Logan Murray, and interactive Fiction with Robert Sherman at the British Library.
Background
Images and Media
Freshair Radio
“The only thing that would separate him from the likes of Matthew Mercer or Brennan Lee Mulligan would be his notoriety. Laury masterfully weaves absurd audience contributions with the horrific setting of the show in a skilful manner that’s able to keep the show playful yet thrilling.”
GeekChocolate
“Interactive and unpredictable… Laury is an excellent, energetic and enthusiastic host.”
Audience members Edinburgh 2026
“Brilliant show! Jonathan is a great host and gets the crowd on board with the concept straight away. The show was fun, silly and unpredictable- the ability for the audience to add rooms to the game was a nice touch too. Would recommend to anyone, geeks and non-geeks alike!”
“I would highly recommend this show. Jonathan Laury cleverly mixes elements from tabletop games, social deduction games, and classic hammy horror to create a one-of-a-kind experience. Lots of audience participation, lots of twists and turns, lots of laughter.”
“So much fun! Jonathan is clever and great at storytelling. We sang, we laughed, we died. Would definitely play again.”
“Fantastic show, great audience participation! Very very funny host!”
“I had such a good time! I chose to participate, but I appreciated the degree that the audience could choose to interact or not, depending on comfort level. The show was very funny and interesting, and I am looking forward to seeing more from Jonathan Laury”
“Chose the show as a bit of a wild card because the listing mentioned Vincent Price and Little Alex Horne so thought yep I'll see that. Whilst the show delivered shades of both it was so much more than that and the host very much made the show his own. It was weird, spooky, entertaining, completely distinctive and very very funny. Please tour it or bring it down south, would love to see it again and bring my DnD group as I know they'd love it too.”
“Amazing show, definitely one for lovers of DND, vampires or silly situations, Jonathan Laury was brilliant host and full of energy.”
“As an Edinburgh resident I saw many different shows this year, but this was definitely my favourite! Managed to bring a few friends who all have very different tastes in comedy but everyone enjoyed this. I also usually stay clear of interactive shows, but this felt safe and kind and not at all forced so don’t let that scare you! Thanks for a great show :)”
“Hilarious and engaging show, the audience participation is very enjoyable and extensive throughout. Perfect for comedy and horror fans alike!”
“This show is sooo much fun! The host is brilliant at setting the world and bringing you into it. Grab your friends and go!! EPIC TIMES AWAIT!!”
“Really fun show and performer with memorable energy and charisma. We’re talking about this one with lots of friends who didn’t make it to Fringe. Not just for folks appreciating the game premise or spooky humor, it was a really great bit of variety from standard standup sets. Not normally a “joiner”, and you don’t need to be, but had more fun being a participant too!
“Incredible show, like nothing I've seen before. Highly recommended!”
“Absolutely brilliant, funny, artistic, engaging. If you’re a fan of board games and dnd in particular, this is the right choice. For both of us it was the best show we went to at the Fringe, would participate again as every time it would be a different “Vampire run”.”