A silly, political and hilariously depressing peek into life at 40

I didn’t know what to expect from Rachel Parris; I looked her up before the show and, embarrassingly, the only thing I recognised was her husband, the guy from ‘Sorry I’ve Got No Head’. So when Parris asked us, five minutes into the show, who had heard of ‘The Mash Report’, I was almost alone in my feeble ‘whoop’ from the third row. I would say the audience was almost exclusively in the 40-65 age range, and decidedly liberal. Due to my own ignorance to Parris’ impressive back catalogue of political comedy, it took a few minutes for me to gauge the tone of the show. Parris, however, gauged us immediately; an Oxford graduate herself, she knew how to work the room, and how to subtly humble it. Safe to say, I was quickly charmed.

I was really sold approximately halfway through the never-ending list of things about Boris Johnson she loved to make fun of. Parris was hilarious when she just kept on going. The repetitions of jokes, so far past funny that they got funny again, were always successful. I found myself giggling uncontrollably as she described trying to convince the child psychologist that her son could locate his neck. I’m sure this went on for over 3 minutes. 

Parris cleverly used her musicality at well-timed intervals throughout the show, rounding off her rants with songs of varying genres, parodying them and their subject matter. My favourite song was her finale, a ‘Bond theme’ describing the perfect woman on film. The audience found this very relatable; there was always a layer of genuine meaning behind Parris’ humour, which was very impressive and left me eager to follow her socials for more! She sang about Easter in the post-Brexit passport queue at Dover, sampling Les Mis and various nursery rhymes, as well as an a Capella folk song lamenting the phrase ‘life begins at 40’, which was vulnerable and truly moving, a perfect addition to the second half of the show. At one point, I’m a song dedicated to Andrew Tate, she had the audience split down the middle, all singing in harmony! This was surprisingly successful and thrillingly awkward for the typically Oxford audience. 

Despite the occasional political jab that went straight over my 20 year-old head, Poise made me chuckle consistently and ugly laugh multiple times. I felt included in her self-deprecating stories and enjoyed their political undertones (or overtones!). If I wasn’t in the Rachel Parris fan club before, I am now!