F E S T I VA L C O M E DY | Reviews
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GARRETT MILLERICK: SMILE Another simmering gag-filled opinionated delight ●●●●●
Just prior to the 2018 Fringe, Garrett Millerick had a show locked and pretty much loaded. Full of jokes, it was designed purely to keep us grinning through the gritted teeth we all had a mouthful of due to Brexit, Trump et al. Then a family medical emergency forced him to swiftly rewrite that hour to balance out the jollity with a slice of trauma: the result, Sunflower, was his finest show to date, and he’s back in the same room at more or less the same time of day trying, as he notes, to somehow follow up that success. Happily, the victim of that emergency (his wife) pulled through, and he’s back to delivering the kind of quality, sharply opinionated stand-up that he’s made his Fringe name with. Thing is, well . . . this isn’t quite the sort-of show that flies with
TV execs who saw Millerick thrive professionally last August while dealing with personal calamity. One particularly craven media troll is mercilessly taken apart by the comic who can only humbly apologise for not being so messed-up in the head this year. Anyone who’s seen Millerick in full flow will revel in his glee at a dual celebration and mockery of everything from fighting the eco-emergency (he fully realises recycling is the right thing to do, but, really, what’s the point?) to Gordon Ramsay (a man who somehow can’t properly pronounce a word that’s vital in his industry) and Remainers (he might have voted to stay in the EU, but he’s sick and tired of liberal-fuelled sanctimony). And don’t get Millerick started on social media. He doesn’t want you following or liking him, because he cares not a jot about your opinions (outside of The Tron’s snug basement that is). You might never want to be stuck in a lift with the Garrett Millerick stage persona, but watching him let rip for one hour at an arts festival is a unique joy. (Brian Donaldson) n Just the Tonic at The Tron, until 25 Aug (not 12), 5pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.
SARAH KEYWORTH: PACIFIC Feelgood consummate stand-up ●●●●●
SOFIE HAGEN: THE BUMSWING Everything exists for a reason in Dane’s latest fine hour ●●●●● SCUMMY MUMMIES Warm and supportive set airing some pet parental peeves ●●●●●
After a triumphant debut year featuring a cherry- topped Best Newcomer nomination, Sarah Keyworth follows it up with another confident and accomplished hour. The title Pacific appears to be a one-line throwaway about her dad’s propensity for saying that word when he actually means to say ‘specific’. But it might well stand in for the difficulties we all have for getting this thing called life right all the time, especially when we live in an era when any tiny error can be jumped on by a baying online mob.
Keyworth starts amiably from the off, boasting a
new haircut while apologising to anyone who thought they were here to see a woman and not a teenage boy. She then digs into the details of her four-year relationship with fellow comedian Catherine Bohart (the other side of that story can be heard across the Pleasance Courtyard around the same hour, a time- clash which Keyworth puts down to a deliberate act of babysitting by her partner). Things do get a little serious when Keyworth recalls
the time she was sexually harassed at an Australian comedy festival by someone in a position of influence, but in the main, this is a feelgood hour of well-crafted stand-up. (Brian Donaldson) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug (not 12), 5.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).
60 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7–14 Aug 2019
What is it about the Danes and their plot structures? The framework of Sofie Hagen’s latest show The Bumswing (yes, that title is given an explanation but it’s best heard in person) is so intricately played out that it makes The Killing look like it was created by amateurs.
Red herrings are flung about all over the place as Hagen wrestles with her unreliable memory: she can’t recall anything from her first ten years. So with holes in her tale she tries to piece together the details of a sex holiday in Swansea and exactly what it was she did at the age of 12. Previous shows have addressed her anxiety, depression and traumas, but in this one she promises to be more upbeat. The Bumswing is not entirely without its pathos but it gives meat to the set rather than being the focus of it. Hagen seems in a good place personally, while comedically she’s flying high.
Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn want to create a safe place for people just like them, who are less-than- perfect parents. Followers of their Scummy Mummies podcast (featured by The Sunday Times and Radio 4, with over 100,000 Instagram followers) snake a queue along the pavement beforehand. Scummy Mummies love gin in a tin, napping when they can and pissing without spectators. The almost 100% female crowd is in high-pitched (steaming) raptures as they list their peeves: fathers who talk about ‘babysitting’ their own kids, passy aggy WhatsApp groups and swimming lessons. On their podcast they chat with diverse guests about adoption and racism but there’s nothing so taxing tonight, just wine-fuelled rants about him indoors, dance skits in hot pink vagina catsuits and an erotic reimagining of CBeebies.
Material about the differences between excessive Gibson and Thorn’s friendship is super warm, over
British politeness and Danish bluntness seem like throwaway observational gags at the top of the hour, but everything has a purpose in this beautifully created narrative with an apparently deliciously unreliable narrator. (Marissa Burgess) n Pleasance Dome, until 25 Aug (not 12), 7pm, £10–£14 (£9–£13). the moon that they’re doing their first Fringe show. Old-fashioned heteronormative stereotypes and clichés about women loving housework / hating sex run rampant, but their chummy support group isn’t here to be progressive. (Claire Sawers) n Assembly George Square, until 25 Aug (not 12), 7.50pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).