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Sarah Kendall: Touchdown

 
Natalie Blow Review by Natalie Blow 4 Published: 24 Aug 2014 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 30 Jul 2014-25 Aug 2014

Mothers always know best – as frustrating as it can sometimes be; but surely not so frustrating when it forms the foundations of your next stand up show. Following an abrasive phone call with her squawky mother, Kendall is urged to stop tinkering with the truth and come clean. Previously closing her show with a rebellious tale on how she had once called her high school rugby coach “The king of cunts”, the Aussie is quick to admit at the beginning of Touchdown that her rashly comical comeback may not have been so witty for a fourteen-year old after all.

Impeccably crafted and developed each character’s personality around a strong narrative framework.

Touchdown provides Kendall with a platform to replay the events as they truthfully unfolded – “the real king of cunts story”, as she calls it. Kicking off with a sluggish start, Kendall begins by unearthing the tribulations she experienced during her rollercoaster adolescence. The self-confessed social recluse recalls the times she was tucked away in the school library, accompanied by no one but the beer burping, Neil Diamond-crazed librarian.

After developing a rocky friendship with the popular heartthrob Abi Harris, Kendall perhaps wishes she hadn’t been so quick to ditch the library. All teenagers are guilty of making a mountain out of a molehill, but for Kendall her story takes a more serious turn. Whilst at times her feelings of exclusion and frustration feel deeply sensitive, Kendall’s impulsion to create bouts of laughter always remains at the foresight.

Kendall’s ability to weave countless stories and hold the audience's’ full attention was admirable. Her show was impeccably crafted and developed each character’s personality around a strong narrative framework. Despite the masses of content her understated jokes always managed to punch their way through with guaranteed routes to laughter. 

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The Blurb:

She Came. She Saw. She Conquered the Newcastle and District Under-14s Touch Rugby Competition. In 1992, Sarah Kendall was forced to play Women's Touch Rugby. And accidentally made history as one-tenth of the greatest under-14s team ever assembled. Catch the brand new show from the Perrier Award Nominee, Time Out London Comedy Award Nominee and Herald Angel Award Winner. 'Brilliant observational comedy' (Sunday Times). ***** 'A truly brilliant show' (Chortle.co.uk).