Anna Emerson gives an entertaining performance in her latest show,
The dark undertone to some of the show was in stark contrast to the frivolous, silly humour that we enjoyed for the majority of the performance.
The main storyline is delightfully daft. Emerson interacts with the audience throughout the show, physically and verbally, keeping us on our toes for the next twist. The various props have been uniquely designed to aid the storyline, achieving maximum comedic effect. Aspects of the show need to be developed slightly more to make the plot and feel more cohesive. Some jokes, while funny, were inconsistent and seemed fairly random, but others were engineered and executed flawlessly. These recurring themes and situations were the biggest successes of the show.
Emerson’s character is well played and clearly a lot of thought has gone into crafting her personality, establishing how this fits with the storyline and has been polished to near perfection. The protagonist’s nervous demeanour and modest attitude made the show funny to watch but at times the situations Emerson creates invoked sympathy rather than laughter. The dark undertone to some of the show was in stark contrast to the frivolous, silly humour that we enjoyed for the majority of the performance; when these more serious and distressing situations arose it was confusing. We didn’t know whether to laugh or pity the character. Although this was cleverly done, it would have been beneficial to establish the tone to prevent the uneasy, ‘should we be laughing now?’ glances between audience members.
Nevertheless, the conflicting effects made for a memorable, impactful and enjoyable performance. Although a bit of a roller-coaster ride, the show is an original, inventive and entertaining hour with a clever comedienne who will satisfy your need for a giggle.
