On the Richter Scale of humour, if your threshold doesn’t reach the level of sick and sadistic then Carmen Lynch is probably not for you. The American comic’s UK debut hour was crammed with her twisted thoughts, spanning everything from childbirth to drugs, religion and family, and while there were some outstanding, slick one-liners, if the show was a sport it would be white water rafting – with Lynch riding us through the rivers, drops and rapids.
Speaks to the sadist within us all, and in very few other circumstances are you going to hear controversial opinions delivered with this level of self-deprecation and panache.
Death is a central theme, which Lynch flirts with throughout her set. Her style is to move minimally while delivering lines with a deadpan tone. This most certainly works for the type of comedy she is offering and the set begins well with three deliciously dark jokes on the morning after pill, why she’s happy Donald Trump was elected and dating men in their 40s. These three gags were strongly executed with wit and style and offered high expectations for the show ahead. It is such as shame the cluster of jokes that followed immediately after, did not reach the same level.
That must be the difficulty with writing jokes of such high quality – it is often hard to keep the momentum. Lynch did however bring up the energy level again, with what I believe to be her best piece of storytelling in the set — it involves her nieces who live in Spain and their dad, Carlos. In fact, all her observations of Spain, the culture and the people, including her mum, were well-delivered. One of her closing pieces about her dramatic mother is a story that you’ll be relaying back to your friends.
Overall the weirdness and dark nature of Lynch’s humour prevails in her UK debut hour, but not in the quantities that one might have hoped for. That being said, this is a comic I will continue to watch because her humour speaks to the sadist within us all, and in very few other circumstances are you going to hear controversial opinions delivered with this level of self-deprecation and panache.
