Some Edinburgh shows try to butter you up with a badge. Some offer free sweets. In Cerys Bradley's Not Overthinking Things 2019 I got a free autism diagnosis. Not everyone gets this - I volunteered to try to interpret a "frog book" that is used to identify autistic traits. Needless to say the results suggested I'm pretty autistic. Which is not a big surprise as before I was able to relax enough to write this review I lined up all my pens and pencils in order of length.
Bradley's show, presented as a mock birthday party, is partly based on the fact that it was said that they weren't mean enough in their last show. So this time they are trying to be a bit meaner. they even have a "meanometer" onstage to measure how well they are doing. It wasn't entirely successful as a scientific gadget, but it added a bit of fun to a show that had some amusing moments, but struggled to maintain any momentum, maybe partly to do with Bradley's own slightly awkward stage presence.
Beyond the jokes, Bradley, who is neurodivergent, talked about their parents' divorce and how it affected them. When the break-up happened they described their father's new partner as a 'sidepiece', and recalled how they worked out a way of giving them a generous present that was also a horrible present. As the story pans out though, it is more sympathetic, less mean than one might have expected.
They also find people in the audience whose parents have divorced and compares notes. It sometimes feels that Bradley, who recently got married, is doing this as much for a therapeutic benefit as any comedic effect, but it does help the audience to feel that they are intrinsic to the show.
There are other ways everyone becomes involved too. There is a mix of typical children's party games with a twist. There's an unusual pin the tail on the donkey variant, some cruel balloon animals and rounds of pass-the-parcel with people who open the parcel being told how they are going to die (aneurysm, thanks).
The result is something that is definitely interesting in some places and amusing in other places, but overall feels a little haphazard. It should be added that the audience was relatively small on the afternoon I saw it. If it had a full house the atmosphere would have probably felt more upbeat. Instead it felt, ironically, less like a comedy gig and more like a children's party where not many children had turned up.
Until August 27. Info here.
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three stars
