Review by Steve Bennett

How very Fringe! Adrienne Truscott performs much of her stand-up debut naked from the waist down. It’s probably not a set for the McIntyre Roadshow.

There is a point to flashing the flesh, though, beyond generating that vital festival buzz. It’s that it shouldn’t matter how provocatively she dresses, nor how much she drinks and flirts either, she doesn’t ‘deserve’ to get raped. Judges take note.

However important the point, it’s hard to get too wrapped up in the seriousness of the topic when the performer’s thrusting her Lady Garden at you, knocking back canned G&Ts with a swagger. And that’s what Truscott, half of the outrageous Wau Wau Sisters cabaret act, is aiming for: to reclaim the ‘rape joke’ that’s become a tired stand-up trope while giving the audience an unforgettable spectacle.

Not that she’s being censorious about what other comedians can talk about. The show starts with a video of the great George Carlin defending it as a topic ‘cos he can talk about what the hell he wants, no matter what ‘they’ say. And this whole offputtingly-titled show’s about rape, after all. Oh, and Carlin film is projected on to her quim, that should probably be mentioned.

Whatever her comedy hero says about freedom of expression, Truscott does have a beef with the lazily violent misogyny of fellow American Daniel Tosh, who last year hit the headlines when he speculated about a female heckler being gang-raped. His crime, Truscott argues, is that he didn’t do his one job of being funny, so you’re just left with an offensive oaf.

So how does this show fare in her own litmus test for funny? If, like a good feminist, you see past the vagina (admittedly a little hard to do when it’s at such close quarters in this claustrophobic ‘bookshop’), Truscott delivers spirited stand-up, but with rough-and-ready writing. The arguments aren’t slick, and some jokes struggle, but the show flies by the verve of her delivery and the force of her considerable personality. And she’s on-the-money with her arguments, especially her excellent demolition of a Republican senator’s claim that there’s a thing called ‘legitimate rape’ by using ducks as an example.She’s fighting ignorance with frivolity.

Truscott freely admits she’s new to this stand-up game, and that sometimes shows in the gags. But her aim is clearly to create a unique ‘event’ that gets her – and her agenda – talked-about. On that she’s clearly succeeded, becoming a Fringe phenomenon if only for her daring, but backed up by some impassioned comedy. You’ve really got to admire her balls...

Review date: 19 Aug 2013
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett