Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Is being rich the last taboo on a comedy circuit that otherwise celebrates people being their authentic selves? Plenty of posh stand-ups have come out of their Chippendale closets, given the emotional repression that can be mined, but what about the properly wealthy, the one per cent nouveau riche?

Olga Koch is from that world. Her oligarch-adjacent father helped transfer Russia’s vast natural assets into the hands of a few well-connected private individuals following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and she grew up in a world of unimaginable privilege. ‘Is this relatable to you?’ becomes a catchphrase as she regales us with stories of yachts and domestic staff.

She makes no apologies for being loaded, seeks no sympathy for being a ‘poor little rich girl’, and promises no socio-economic commentary on wealth inequality. However, she can’t quite keep that latter vow, as she considers the different ways people can join the one per cent in Russia, the States and Britain. But it’s observational rather than political, an interesting framework on which to hang her personal narrative, which spans the three economies.

Comes From Money is, on the surface, a bright, funny romp through where Koch came from and where she is now, a successful comedian after years working for the ‘radicalisation platforms’ of the tech industry and no longer directly supported by her father’s millions. But there is food for thought beneath.

Koch’s an energetic and commanding presence from the rock-star start, compelling as she whisks us from ultra-luxury to living her best life in Gossip Girl-era New York and settling in London. Along the way, she muses on the American Dream - work hard, get rich – and Britain’s class system, where the best route to wealth is having centuries of landowning ancestors. 

It’s pacy and fun and gag-packed. The wealth Koch has now is a wealth of jokes – and none better that a devastatingly funny, dubious-taste line about the Berlin Wall. 

She might have turned her back on her family’s financial lifeline, but with an ever-increasing assuredness to her dynamic, astute stand-up, she’s surely set to make her own fortune through comedy.

Review date: 5 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Monkey Barrel Comedy Club