Catie Wilkins works in a call centre, has a gay brother and parents who are both completely normal and yet very unusual - all great topics for a comedy set. Whilst maybe not delving fully into the comedy of many areas of her life due to a focus more on other people than herself, Catie manages to be darkly humorous and sexually awkward in a wonderfully refreshing and young set.Wilkins provides a wonderful structure to her performance. The story arches through her attempt to belong and also her fear of becoming like her parents. In the material she skirts over the issues of terminal disease, family newsletters and sooty puppets with incredible skill, beauty and charm. There is nobody who leaves crying with laughter, but there is a gentle sense of optimism and enjoyment from everyone. The sense of completion leaves the audience feeling they have heard a particularly hilarious monologue and not just a series of disengaged gags.However, I wish Wilkins might talk less about other people and more about herself, or rely on her own gags. Whilst anecdotes are great (and the theme was, admittedly, that of family) the moments when she spoke for herself were the best jokes of the whole show: her deliberation of what an anti-semantic joke would be, her gentle self-deprecation and use of recurring gags were all brilliant. There was something very earthbound about her humour instead of the surrealism and hyperbole that often plagues bigger names.If you want to see someone you have not seen on TV a hundred times before, go see Catie Wilkins: she will leave you feeling proud and joyful.
