Freya Mallard’s The Bounce Back is a witty, fractured show, where the trains of thought don’t always line-up or follow on naturally from one another.
Has a solid understanding of the stand-up art form
Mallard’s material is occasionally unusual and delves into topics on which she possesses a unique perspective and raises interesting questions about, but they’re such a small part of her set that often they’re over just as soon as they’ve begun. She doesn't always follow through on a joke or latch onto the reason we’re laughing and push it further, which constrains her a little. If Mallard committed to that a bit more, then she would avoid the trap she so often falls into over the course of the hour.
There’s an intelligence in Mallard’s humour, but she hasn’t quite found a way to translate that into high-energy moments. Her jokes sometimes fall flat due to the forced nature of her delivery and she doesn’t quite manage to kick up enough energy for us to fully engage with her material. And because a lot of the comedy in her material is mild, her pace is lethargic and the combination of all this dampens the atmosphere. Mallard’s perspective is really interesting, but it’s hard to tell exactly how her tangents completely fit with her main throughline of new parenthood which often takes a backseat to her other material. Which is a shame, because her central idea is a perspective that we hear about infrequently – the confessional of balancing new motherhood and a career.
Mallard has a solid understanding of the stand-up art form. The only thing she really needs to do to excel is if she mines and pushes her material jokes further. In doing so, she’ll unlock a world of comedy to unleash on the world.