Ellie Taylor had one of those audiences last night that could have gone either way. It quickly became apparent that a works outing was in and not just sitting together but scattered around the venue. Taylor only had to ask Jake in the front row what he did for a living and a whoop went up at the rear. Maybe he was the firm’s boss.
This kind of boisterousness can sometimes spell trouble but it is a tribute to Taylor’s skill that she kept a lid on any potential disruptive elements. It helped of course that she has an engaging populist style that doesn’t demand the concentration you might need for, say, a Stewart Lee set.
Taylor’s comedy is unashamedly mainstream. References to Greggs and Jaegermeister are always guaranteed to get a laugh. But there is clearly intelligence and subtle thought going on here too. What Taylor excels at is a brand of self-mocking stand-up feminism that falls somewhere between Bridget Christie and Luisa Omielan.
The theme of her autobiographical show Elliementary underlines her own feminist contradictions. She believes in equality but was still desperate for her boyfriend to be a soppy old romantic and propose to her. She cleverly weaves their story into the set, highlighting the ups and downs of a relationship that was stretched to the limit when he went to work in Russia.
Along the way there is also some very good material about Taylor’s previous career as a model – less New York catwalk, more doing ads for Greek yoghurt in Greece. Taylor gave up because, sensibly, she decided she would rather eat than be a magazine cover star.
She would also, it emerges, rather drink. Taylor pithily explains how vodka – “liquid Amy Childs” – brings out her Essex roots, while Jaegermeister makes her go posh. She is good with voices and physical comedy, pulling faces and generally having a giggle at her alcohol-induced bad behaviour.
It is easy to see why this show did not trouble Edinburgh Comedy Award judges last summer. I suspect that they thought it was pretty lightweight. After all, all it does is make the audience laugh for an hour. That is just snobbery though. Entertaining strangers is not something to be knocked. Jake may have been the works outing boss, but Taylor was clearly the undisputed boss of this show.
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