Corinne Grant: Nice Friendly Lady Hour
Note: This review is from 2007
Well, this does what it says on the tin; Corinne Grant is
very chatty and likeable. She establishes her comedian status
by telling us about her experiences of other gigs in Australia,
where as a headlining act she has to deal with the audiences
who are too drunk and tired to listen.
Her stories and anecdotes bowl along quite seamlessly, covering
the shit Melbourne weather, her lack of a tan, the humiliation
of buying a bikini. It's worth going just to hear about her socking
Richard Branson. It's all very good humoured and cuddly but
you do end up wondering where the jokes are.
She makes good use of common experiences. She has a fine
collection of tales of her country upbringing, being the new
girl in town and amusing things her friends have said. The gentle,
discursive style is very Melbournian, where in the UK we perhaps
favour punchier, punchline-driven comedy. Corinne's technique
of burbling along without a pause puts me in mind of radio hosting,
where you could insert an advert, a record or a station ident
without any serious loss of momentum. It's not going to cut
across a rattling good tag. Her warm manner and vulnerability
keep you absorbed and happily engaged, but I was hungry for a
couple more good belly laughs.
This was the first night of her first Edinburgh fringe and
all credit to her for whipping up a nice frothy show with some
topical references and making it seem effortless. You just want
a bit more to get your teeth into
Julia Chamberlain
Review date: 1 Aug 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett