The first night of Stephanie Laing’s Nincompoop showed potential and given time this comedy show could be seriously funny. But by her own admission, the comedian is awkward and this showed in the way she rushed through the set. Although billed as an hour, it lasted only 25 minutes.
With some time for polish, this could be one to watch
This is a work in progress but it still felt almost unprepared; with the next performances in a couple of weeks, Laing does have time to tighten it up. She has an observational style and spoke openly about awkward situations within her life that created small pockets of laughter across the room.
Her persona is timid and it came as a shock to hear her subtly drop profanity into the mix, producing a sea of smiles. While there was an occasional laugh, Laing failed to control the crowd and we often sat in silence. Still, her material is fairly original and she has some relatable anecdotes that were moderately funny.
Overall, Stephanie Laing didn’t seem overly confident with her performance and she kept reminding the audience that she was aware her show was not quite up to scratch. This dampened the mood of the room and at times she quickly shuffled through material. There weren’t many of us and perhaps with a larger audience the jokes may have worked better. Laing is clearly fun and her show has some redeeming factors; drawings of ducks, sporadic strange noises and some interesting songs which proved to be the highlights of the show. In a few weeks, with some time for polish, this could be one to watch.
