Emma Fryer – Original Review
Note: This review is from 2005
This newbie has made an early impression. Hers is an odd, mad routine running brilliantly against the grain and producing laughs from the most unexpected of places.
But her manic, oddball charm doesn't always emerge, thanks toa lack of focus in her quirkiness. She sometimes stumbles around her set, before hitting something substantial.
Very tall and very blonde, she says she often gets mistaken for a transvestite, but her set is far more eclectic than the straightforward ‘what do I look like?’ fare - most notably she probably the only stand-up to do an extended, well-constructed routine about the novels of Catherine Cookson.
On the debit side, she’s a propensity to over-reach her ideas, meandering off on lengthy imaginings without a punchline in sight.
But she's only performed a handful of gigs and a few months on the circuit, where such indulgence is not so easily tolerated, should teach her to edit her set into a quirky, original offering.
Review date: 1 Aug 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett