Suzi Ruffell greeted the audience at the door with a charming and cheeky smile on her face, perfectly setting the tone for her hour of standup. Except it didn't feel like stand up at all. From the get-go Ruffell launches into a heartwarming and hilarious confessional tale of her family, her career and her drunken escapades.
Manages to be charming, confessional, and sweet.
Talking about class and being 'common' has the potential to be problematic, difficult to hear, or even offensive. However, Ruffell handles the theme with a delicate touch. She chats away to the audience like they are her best friend, asking for wedding advice and giggling about how drunk she got that one time...
Ranging from funny stories of her standup career blossoming in school, to the frankly genius idea that single mothers who are much more adept at balancing budgets than the wealthy members of government should manage the country's finances, Ruffell covers a lot of ground. She even tackles religion and homophobia which at the same time as being very funny, also manages to be charming, confessional, and sweet.
She declares all the stories she tells are true, this makes the escapades of her family, particularly her father (I won't ruin the joke for you) all the more hysterical. Though talking about how she was trying to save up for her wedding at a 'pay-what-you-want' show felt a little cheeky, she still managed to do this without it feeling awkward.
At times her set felt a bit repetitive and she could probably have gotten through her material a little quicker, but this is a minor criticism in what was a charming show.
