Fringe Comedy
Sara Barron
Pleasance Courtyard
Five stars
There's bold and then there's ballsy. If Sara Barron's press release announced that her middle name was Cojones, there'd be no argument from me. Last year's Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee is back with a cocktail of confessions that's gloriously heavy on the bitters. Ex-boyfriends, hated girlfriends and James Corden are all inspected and dissected in ruthlessly efficient fashion by the woman Jon Ronson described as queen of New York's live story-telling scene. Deliciously dark, brutally honest and unapologetically filthy - this is comedy for the grown-ups. The unique life lessons Barron offers up in what can only be described as a sort of twisted TED talk gets the belly-laughs they richly deserve. There's great physicality too. In deliciously apt acid wash jeans, she paces and prowls like a woman whose Uber is already twenty minutes late. A master-class in mockery. It's only vitriol but I like it, like it, yes, I do!
Until August 25.
Sarah Keyworth
Pleasance Courtyard
Four stars
2018 was a big year for Herald Angel-winner and Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee, Sarah Keyworth and 2019 is shaping up to be equally impressive. She's bagged herself a target-goal hairstyle, a new non-subterranean performance space and a gag-packed belter of a sophomore show. A quick audience poll to determine who are the bottle-uppers and who are the blubbers sets the tone as Keyworth explores gender and in particular her own relationship with masculinity. She sees herself as a small woman trying her best to be a modern man. It isn't easy though, particularly as she's come to the conclusion that she's turning into a perfect pastiche of her father, while her girlfriend, fellow Fringe stand-up, Catherine Bohart is scarily just a pastry fork short of morphing into her mother. It's a sharply-written, well-paced and terrifically funny hour that also manages to deliver a powerful message on the dangers of transphobia. Just like her mood toe ring, this is a little gem of a show.
Until August 25.
Gayle Anderson
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