Jessica Pidsley has given herself a challenge, one that she hopes will help her audience to change their attitudes towards their body. It is no secret that society has a body image crisis. Why else would we have allowed Gok Wan on our screens for so long?
Our relationships with our bodies and the role of the media are the bases covered by Pidsley through the story of her relationship with her body and Paul McKenna illustrated with the help of audio-visuals. Looking for confirmation that other people were equally worried about their size and shape? You’ll leave feeling assuredly full. Looking for witty, observational stand up about the state of today’s body image? Be sure to eat beforehand, or you’ll leave intellectually malnourished.
Her observations are perfectly correct and her story is heartfelt with some fun humour thrown in. However, her commentary on body image and diets is nothing new. If anything it’s really old. Yes, we are bombarded with images of perfection, yes, tabloid magazines are callous, yes, some diets are nonsensical. However, it is safe to say that we’ve been discussing body image and the detrimental effects of our unrealistic standards for so long it has become tedious. So, if that is going to be the chosen topic of stand up, there better be some insightful jokes cracked or it won’t make its audience think. Unfortunately, this show did not live up to its title.
Although she is a great comedic actress, an ability that definitely shines through in her amusing spoofs of adverts she plays us, Pidsley’s stand up style patronises the audience. The jokes seem forced in parts and, by and large, the show is obvious and rather safe, which no amount of fun audio-visuals can change. There is no doubt that Pidsley is lovely and trying to do a good thing through comedy, sending a positive message out to her audience - her heart of gold is a given. Her funny bones, however, are not quite so certain.
