A promising fringe debut about moving countries that misses it’s mark too often
Annabelle James’ hour of stand up about the trials and tribulations of moving from Australia mirrors her move. There’s a rocky pace at the start but by the end settles into a more satisfying finish, fuelled by a charismatic storyteller at the helm.
Annabelle moves confidently around the stage and handles audience interaction with a charming outgoing demeanour. She has an air of a ‘club comedian’, and thinks well on her feet when the unexpected happens in the room, whether its back chat from her friends at the front or people spilling a beer. Although crowd work was uncommon, the few times it happens Annabelle creates a welcoming comedic moment that always has a punchline or call back to end on. The confidence she exudes doesn’t always get shown in the delivery however.
Often a bigger punchline will have filler either side of the punchline that detracts from the punchline, or a smaller punchline is given too much space when she could better maintain pace on the way to a greater line. During her anecdotes and stories you see this in action, the stories themselves were well chosen but pacing and delivery sometimes felt uneven. The best stories and jokes of the show were often where Annabelle’s intentions were clearer, when a slow build-up to a punchline or more of a rapid fire approach were noticeable, rather than the more confusing middle ground. The observational humour around the incongruities of the rental market scams or the difference in Australian and British/Scottish slang, have good premises but aren’t capitalised on as well as they could be.
Annabelle throughout the show lays good bits, and humorous ideas but the execution felt like it needed more development, and more trimming of the weaker routines. For someone making their fringe debut this is a promising performance but hard to recommend in it’s current level of polish.https://www.edfringe.com/
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Venue 88 Just The Tonic at The Caves – Just The Spare Room
Dates: Aug 20th – 30th
Time: 6:20pm (60 mins)
Ticket prices: £11.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 16+