Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Chloe Petts came out swinging.  A moment of brisk jollity gave way to insulting the audience, the elderly, people who identify as her fans and bullying the terrified men in the front row by offering a hideous, role-play service, all to the delight of those not in the firing line.

Her shtick concerns her inner football lad and lovely, gentle queer personality, and they ride along together just fine.

She successfully pulled off a downbeat delivery, impressively composed and calm considering the show has a strong thread of anger -  but never dull, a nice break from the frantic, jazz-hands, please-like-me manner that prevails. I don’t mean to damn with faint praise here, but her style and content is really absorbing, this is a good thing.

There were some excellent stories, her relish of her role at straight weddings being top among them.  Her persona is at once bolshy and diffident and it is where these qualities take her that makes for a for so many good tales.

The show is structured, controlled, keeps the laughter rolling right to the end, even via a tense story of a knife incident on the bus. This is a slow-burning show that never falters, is introspective without being self-obsessed and provokes you to reflect on making too quick a judgement on fellow humans.

Review date: 10 Aug 2023
Reviewed by: Julia Chamberlain
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard