Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Former deputy leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South and progressive firebrand Mhairi Black stood down in the 2024 election to focus on the only authentic way to speak truth to power: taking a debut stand-up show to the Gilded Balloon. She’s even had the sense to score herself an ADHD diagnosis for added comedic legitimacy. 

Still only 29 after almost ten years as a serving MP, she certainly has enough time to have a good bash at a career in comedy if she decides she likes it. She certainly has no fear of public speaking given that she addressed Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage aged just 22, and has battled it out from the Commons benches

And in truth, she settles fairly naturally into the rhythms and cadences of the stand-up comic, like she’s been doing it for years. The combination of oratory skills and a sharp political mindset sounds promising, but it quickly turns out that the jokes are mostly toothless and her representation of politics verges on the trivial. Unfortunately it’s all a bit Radio 4. 

Black often walks up to the edge of a meatier statement, but defuses herself at the last minute. For example: ‘Scotland has become a more dangerous place for my community – Partick Thistle fans.’ It’s always to mild comic effect but you soon start to wish she might get her teeth into something the way she did in Parliament.

On the other hand, if you’ve always wondered how the speakers in the Commons benches work or what the division bells sound like when they’re calling for a vote, Black’s got you covered. The factoids really aren’t bad at all, and will probably be of interest to real Parliament-heads, but you can get much the same effect from the Palace of Westminster official guided tour. 

The main point of all this seems to be in puncturing some of the pomposity of the Houses of Parliament, pointing out all the ways in which their ancient Ritual make no sense and aren’t fit for purpose. Which is fair enough, if that’s her real interest, it just seems like a missed opportunity for something more enlivening, thought-provoking or radical. 

Of everything that’s wrong with how this country is governed, the antiquated seat reservation process in the Commons chamber is not at the top of my list of concerns. I suppose we have no choice but to take her title at face value: politics is no longer for her.

Review date: 20 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Tim Harding
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon at the Museum