a winning bid in the making
It’s always fun to see how the pre-show music translates to the show itself. With Ruby Carr’s show eBae, we’re setting the scene with Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop”, before Madonna’s “Material Girl” has the audience humming along, and Ruby enters to the Kaiser Chiefs “Ruby” (of course).
With the help of her trusty PowerPoint, Ruby takes us on her mission to become a brand ambassador for eBay. Covering the current unlikely partnership of eBay and Love Island, she sets out her stall with a strengths and weaknesses breakdown, and a Wiki How about how to get eBay to notice her. We also spin through why eBay is like an eyelashed pink Fiat, lizards and their enclosures, the perils wearing skirts for tall women with long torsos, and a spirited Daddy Long-Legs impression.
However, the real heart of the show is where we really dig into her eBay obsession, featuring Roger, the haunted Pokemon, unexpected Victorian DNA (with potential for a theme park), and the determination to establish the demise of a relationship via wrapped Christmas presents.
Not all of the sections land with the audience, but such is the speed at which we progress, it doesn’t really matter, as the next anecdote or call-back is lined up within seconds. There’s some light-hearted interactive crowd work, particularly with Sam, the lockdown iPod buyer, but this gains momentum later in the show with a bidding war. The start of the show felt perhaps a little slower and not as well balanced as the following sections, but you feel that type of refinement will come with time.
Ruby has the natural energy of a wide-eyed kids TV presenter, which could feel at odds with some of her more adult material, but her charm on stage pulls these two elements together. I did brace myself when she veered onto Santa territory during one tangent, with a small child sitting in the second row, but all was well. She’s clearly having a blast during her show, and the self-aware giggles when she finds something funny (or equally, regrets a previous comment) adds to this atmosphere.
For a debut hour, this was an elaborately constructed and engaging performance, and she’s clearly found her voice which bodes well for a bright future. For those that enjoy multimedia comedy, Ruby is one to watch, and is going to be a name that features frequently in that sphere in the coming years. With this degree of curiosity and tenacity, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.