Even though it is a favored topic of comedians, it’s still rather tricky to pull off good humor about disenfranchised groups. The comedian runs the risk of descending into stereotypes, clichés, and comments which are offensive for the sake of being offensive. This is not something one need worry about when attending Double D’s Feminism, Lesbianism, & Disability(ism) comedy show. Brought to you by a self-proclaimed lesbian (Jenna Wimshurst) and a woman with a highly autistic son (Jennifer Belander), this is a show from two women who know what they are talking about.
Although the show is advertised as starring Caroline Bridgwater, it is in fact Belander who is the second D (apparently the posters were made before the change). The show doesn’t suffer for the loss though, Belander’s humor about how living with a highly autistic son changes life is quite entertaining. With a light touch she points out the inconsistencies in the systems set up to deal with autistic individuals and explains the joys, frustrations, and quirks of having a child who’s just a little bit different.
Wimshurst’s humor is a bit darker than her partner’s and tends to focus on the bedroom (possibly to be expected when one is seeing a show on sexual orientation). Despite this, there are still a good number of laugh-out-loud moments, with a reasonable amount of surreptitious social commentary snuck in.
Double D’s is not necessarily the kind of comedy show that will leave you rolling in the aisle, or gasping for breath. It is, however, interesting and informative while still being genuinely amusing.
