Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Sophie Duker draws on her vast reserves of charisma, confidence and energy to kick-start her latest show with a carnival vibe, dancing through the aisles before the rallying cry: ‘Have we got any sexy people in?!’

Whatever the objective truth, you might as well say ‘yes’, since this is, in part, a celebration of delulu, delusion’s camper, more positive cousin, the attitude once called ‘fake it til you make it’.

The comedian’s mum has it, albeit in a very weird way, and her dad… well it’s complicated. As tangentially suggested by the title – taken, like the Taylor Swift album track of the same name, from The Little Mermaid – Duker might have daddy issues. It’s certainly the unsolicited feedback she often gets.

To explore that possibility, Duker agreed to a therapy session with her emotionally and physically distant father. Or rather she agreed to it because it would be good for ‘the plot’ of her life (and, of course, this show). For if anyone exudes main character energy, it’s Duker.

That translates to a magnetic stage presence that holds the room as she takes us through the relationships with her parents, a sugar daddy she hooked up with online and dates she’s been on since she came out as queer. For someone who has a sharp eye for what’s going on in the world, she can make some regrettable decisions in her own life.

The anecdotes come with various side orders of social commentary and a dash of man-bashing, minimal payback for centuries of the patriarchy, and with a light enough touch to pass for teasing, especially when directed at people in the audience.

She makes all these strands fit together thematically, imposing a coherence to an hour that might otherwise seem inconclusive, not least because she kept the outcomes of her therapy sessions private. 

And while she confesses to being a hot mess of a personality, she’s a hugely convincing cheerleader for that devil-may-care approach to life, making her fun to hang out with – as this hour attests.

Review date: 4 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard