Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

As any public discussion of trans issues is doomed to be toxic and dehumanising, it’s refreshing to hear the straightforward first-hand account of a regular, softly-spoken trans person with a comic’s instinct for exploiting the funny absurdities this unusual journey has thrown up.

Up top, Dee Allum briskly runs through the answers to the FAQs she gets, topping it with a delightfully daft joke about repressed minorities. Such playfulness underpins much of her story, lightening it considerably.

The act of coming out produced the funniest moments, especially the workplace  HR officer who, in Allum’s skilful retelling, got stuck in buffering mode as she tried to wrap her head around what was clearly an alien concept. I hate to use the reference, but she surely owes a debt to Stewart Lee for the agonising way she draws this out, as well as the highly effective use of repetition and pauses in some later set pieces.

Allum’s news elicited reactions she didn’t always expect with the line she used to come out to her amazingly supportive girlfriend, with her take on their new living situation is absolutely hilarious. Just pray Allum broke the news slightly more sensitively IRL. None of this could have been easy, but Allum does not generally dwell on the negatives, mentioning they’ve had couple’s counselling only to make the therapist a figure of fun.

Elsewhere, she takes a swipe at a certain GB News comedian and turns the table on the arena-filling cis stand-ups with their transphobia that’s as lazy as it is hate-enabling. 

But mostly this is her story, occasionally probing some of her darker thoughts against the grain of the generally easygoing tone, before concluding with typical candour: ‘Transitioning saved my life, but coming out was the hardest thing.’ This is only the start of her gender journey, and surely a successful comedy one too.

Review date: 5 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard