Kerry Leigh’s warm and heartfelt comedy show Catching Rainbows is a breath of fresh air in the cynical and distrustful world we live in. Leigh says in the show she doesn’t give a f**k anymore. Which shows in her endearing self deprecating humour.
Leigh is an incredibly charming comedian with a real knack for audience engagement.
Leigh visits different parts of her life and her identity in the show. Telling us about the different plates she has to spin in her stand-up, all the while being incredibly endearing. She is able to maintain a spontaneity for the majority of the show, but sadly the obviously premeditated and inhibited mime, dance and singing detracted from her skills as a stand-up.
While Leigh’s willingness to make a fool of herself is admirable, everything other than her stand-up and her engagement with the audience felt unnecessary. Leigh has an incredible ability to repartee with audience members unlike many other comedians. Interestingly, and quite uniquely, Leigh is able welcome audience members into the performance rather than making fun or ripping into them, demonstrating a real knack for improvisation.
Leigh is an incredibly charming comedian with a real knack for audience engagement and an uncanny ability to translate issues that would normally corner her into a certain niche. Instead she is able to verbalise things about her own experience in a way that is accessible and never feels preachy. Leigh has the skills to be genre busting if she leaves the mime and interpretive dance at home.
At no point does it ever feel like she is dragging out jokes or holding onto things a beat too long, which made the hour and a half show fly by. The rhythm of the show is spot on, never once feeling boring. In fact, it could have lasted longer.
Sadly, the lighting and the sound took away from the performance as a whole. Perhaps if the levels in the sound were right then the singing would have been an enjoyable change of pace. Unfortunately, Leigh ended up getting drowned out even though she had a microphone.
The majority of Kerry Leigh’s Catching Rainbows showed real promise, but the show can’t be given a higher rating because the mime, interpretive dance and singing were distractingly subpar. However, Leigh shows real promise in comedy; her charm and approachability won over her audience. We will definitely be seeing more of her.
