Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

The premise for Zoe Brownstone’s Fringe debut couldn’t be more straightforward. Inspired by 1990s romcoms that are probably problematic if subjected to the slightest scrutiny, she wants a meet-cute that would be movie-worthy, kick-starting a love story for the ages.

That’s at least the way this Canadian-Jewish ‘hopeless romantic’ frames what’s pretty much an hour of dating stories, seeking love in all the wrong places and with all the wrong men. Although she wants to be the main character in the great untold romcom, she’s aware that she gives ‘quirky best friend’ energy instead, and A Bite Of Yours is a chance to reframe this.

Despite the best efforts of contrived metaphor about romance being like an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine of chain-reaction engineering, Brownstone’s stories of one-night stands, step-parenting and more feel pretty slight compared to much of the soul-baring elsewhere on the Fringe. 

Nothing in her story is exceptional – except for one particularly brutal dumping by a Dutch boyfriend that completely upended her life – but maybe that’s the point, to share an hour with a comic being dependably amusing about situations everyone can identify with.

Brownstone’s got punchy comic rhythms – how refreshing to see a stand-up crashing straight into her story without five minutes of meaningless pleasantries beforehand – and, self-deprecating gags aside, is confident in her persona, which feels authentic and, therefore, easily likeable. Although she’s only recently arrived in the UK, the blurb for this show says Brownstone has been performing stand-up ‘since before dating apps existed’, and that experience shows.

But having a strong Fringe hour is a higher bar than being a decent 20-minute stand-up, and A Bite Of Yours never quite justifies why these anecdotes need to be a show.
 

Review date: 7 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett