Raw, funny and jarring – Melissa Stephens is affable ‘trash’
Melissa Stephens opens with a ‘borrowed’ joke about being Southern Trash which immediately sets the tone of this stand up show.
What follows is a glorious hour of storytelling revealing disarming truths and experiences from Stephens’ life.
Very rarely does Stephens stray into traditional joke structure with many of her laughs coming from the shocking truths in her stories, but this is done skilfully nonetheless.
Occasionally a picture from her Band of Brothers holiday flashes up on the back providing light and intimate relief to some of the darker moments. Unfortunately sometimes this does leave the audience a little unsatisfied – robbed of the climax of a story.
Where Stephens excelled was dealing with a miserable midweek audience – when people left the show (I think one to have a coughing fit) her honest off the cuff addressing of the situation endeared the whole audience to her but also revealed her deeply funny improvisation skills.
What I would say is sometimes the dark subject matter is seemingly brushed over which can disconnect the audience but, overall, the piece is well structured and fantastic storytelling.
The show ends with Stephens reading out audience members’ embarrassing moments which is gloriously uniting and ends the show on a high.
You can see Melissa Stephens: Hot Dogs and Tears at Assembly Powder Room – 19:40.