Who amongst us hasn’t uttered the phrase, “I can’t believe you’ve done this!?” whilst laughing with a friend over a particularly embarrassing story. Ania Magliano turns this common exchange on its head, and instead her new show - I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This - is a sleek, multiple layered and is all around a brilliant example of what a comedy stand-up hour should be.
A brilliant example of what a comedy stand-up hour should be
Throughout this show, there is a sense of quiet triumph, after all it takes a lot of strength to overcome a bad haircut. One thing that is especially clear throughout is the amount of control that Magliano has in her delivery and tone of the material; from the outset it’s a very neatly wrapped up show and we can see the moments of recall, and how she sets different paces of throughout in order to evoke a response from us. The show is built and uses her constant vocalisation of her internal narration and commentary of events creates multiple layers and opportunities for hilarity throughout. She shocks us very early on, which slightly unbalances us but it’s part of her style in the dialogue that she begins with us. Magliano does have a tendency to become waylaid by audience interactions but this is due to her very open and talkative style, as she’s able to neatly incorporate them and make them applciable to her material.
The depth and underlying machinations and structures are very measured in the series of steps that she takes us through the various steps of the show. There’s a logical progression which stems from the gentle nudging that occurs from her style of comedy and in hindsight, we can see the breadcrumbs that she sprinkles in order to lead us to her conclusion.
In cellophane wrapping of gossip, the phrase I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This lulls us into assuming that we are about to watch a more shallow or lighthearted show than it actually is - instead of a comedian working through their own shortcomings through a series of embarrassing stories, Magliano uses the expression to convey a sense of achievement and a sense of peace of self that we should all strive for. A definite must-see.
