There are a lot of people to get into the Pleasance Forth for Rose Matafeo’s first comedy hour since 2018’s Horndog. At the time of writing, there isn’t a date that isn’t sold out. Since Horndog - which won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show at the time - Matafeo has been on panel shows, talk shows, starred in films and created and starred in a series co-commissioned by the BBC and HBO Max. So it’s fair to say that her popularity has risen in the time and expectations are high. And she doesn’t disappoint.
A stellar - possibly even better - follow-up to Horndog
On and On and On is a work-in-progress show, not that that’s obvious, though Matafeo is at pains to remind us of this throughout, particularly if a joke doesn’t get a big laugh. At one point, she yells, “Not all of these will be jokes, some of them will be sad poems that don’t rhyme!” and once again, she has us back onside.
Like her previous shows, what seem like smart but random tangents all tie together to the central theme of the show: which is that each time (usually after a break-up) she thinks she’s changed for the better, she realises she hasn’t.
On and On and On is a lot like her other hours: her dating life and neuroses are mined for our pleasure; millennial pop culture references are peppered throughout (though there is an odd shoutout to Concorde aircraft); and she even begins the show with a dance sequence. However, unlike her previous shows and despite still including her trademark self-deprecation, Matafeo does seem to be coming more into herself comedically at least. There is a feminist joke that completely divides the room, which Matafeo acknowledges and says happens every show but she’s sticking with it. It’s hard to think Horndog Matafeo would have said or done the same.
On and On and On is packed with punchlines delivered at Matafeo’s breakneck speed. The show goes slightly over an hour; there are lines that could and will likely be tightened as the shows go on. But for a work-in-progress, it is a stellar - possibly even better - follow-up to its predecessor.
