Stella Graham's routine is fun and original: she recounts amusing anecdotes of good and bad things she has done and the audience have to decide if she should go to heaven or hell. Hence the 'karma' in the title.
Graham is everything a good comedian should be: self-assured, likeable and, crucially, funny. She holds the stage well, chatting away with speedy ebullience. Rather than launch straight in, she takes the time to break the ice and gives her background story with self-deprecating humour.
She excelled at coaxing the audience out of their shells, mercifully sensing the shy ones and so avoiding the squirming embarrassment that so often comes with audience interaction. Asking the audience to arbitrate over her karmic fate is a great idea but felt slightly strained when there were so few of us. By no fault of Graham's, it was a rare sunny day and everyone was still drinking beer on the Meadows. She heroically persevered and didn't let it perturb her, blasting on with the show.
While her stories are well-told and entertaining, her anecdotes are never quite shameful enough for her to be condemned to hell. If anything, they merely highlight how resiliently nice she is. Stealing school library books is not nearly risqué enough, so she could do with upping the ante on her 'bad karma' stories for the set to work more effectively. With a little polishing and some edgier content Graham could be fantastic. Nonetheless, this is still an enjoyable and entertaining way to spend an hour.
