Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Erupting onto the stage in a tinsel jacket and a flurry of gusto, Australian powerhouse Nikki Britton is performing for the gig she wants, not the gig she has. Her Fringe venue is pretty full, but she brings the energy of playing a sold-out O2.

She's the alpha in any room: brash, shameless, fast-talking, enthusiastic as a puppy-dog and aggressively flirtatious as another puppy-dog who wants to shag your leg. She's desperate to end her drought, but although her approaches have a predatory edge, they are always playful.

The incredible force-of-nature delivery means you overlook a certain lack of action in her story. It's based, mainly, on what should have been a dream trip to Italy. But she fell off the train the moment she arrived, crippling her ankle to the extent she could barely move for the duration of her holiday.

She has some strong anecdotes courtesy of the Uber she ordered to the hospital that took a worrying turn and the absolute shocker of a local doctor chain-smoking his way through her consultation. But considering this is otherwise the story of her making friends with a pigeon when confined to a bench in the town square, she keeps it surprisingly dynamic.

The comic – an established name on the Australian festival circuit but making her Edinburgh debut this year – serves up a pacy hour that also takes in her love of a self-help book, her disillusionment with dating apps (pretty standard fare this one) and a 'triggering' story of her mum getting off with a bloke on what was meant to be a quiet mother-daughter getaway.

She has a disarmingly frank line in sexual material – describing herself as relentlessly horny and 'dangerously fertile'. Her tone is far too celebratory to be filth – even the demonstration of her hand-job technique that's worryingly reminiscent of grinding pepper – but it's definitely unabashed. 

This makes the gig feel like a party, but she has the material to back the phenomenal presence too, with some solid gags and the ability to spin an engaging yarn. All this makes One Small Step a bold and funny Fringe debut.

• Nikki Britton: One Small Step is on at Assembly George Square Gardens at 7.35pm. She will also be taking the show to Soho Theatre in London from September 1 to 3.

Review date: 24 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Assembly George Square