Review by Steve Bennett

One’s a Norwegian, the other is a British Muslim from Pakistani parents, but from the very first line, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between newcomer Marie Vagen and Shazia Mirza. Their cadence is almost identical, the dry deadpan, phrased with mechanical deliberation and dripping with contempt.

Vagen’s material is left brutally exposed by this pattern – predictable shtick about inbreeding and drunkenness (and that was just the children!!) in her homeland. A line or two, even from such uninspired beginnings, hint at potential for more, but it’s thin pickings at the moment.

Review date: 22 Sep 2009
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett