Sub Atomic Room
Until Aug 24 (15:10)
Two years out from her delightful ‘Communist Dad’ show, Candace Bryan is back with another series of acerbic comedy maxims with her MILF: Mom I’d Like To Find. We’d all learned, thro’ her first show, about Bryan being the creation of her being rais’d by a single father; but in this sequel, of sorts, Bryan’s attention is turn’d to the relationship she had with the woman her gave birth to her at 17, & not long afterwards, gave up her natural parental responsibilities, & buggar’d off.
I thought I recognis’d the name of the show. The concept of her mom being a ‘Mom I’d Like To Find’ was introduced in Communist Dad. The Mumble interview’d Bryan 18 months ago, opining on her;
“…Cathartic journey through her abandonment issues – her mother was a MILF, a Mother I’d Like To Find -, a month in Edinburgh laughing about it all has to have been some kind of rehab, right? Anyways, now her soul has undergone a good dose of Chronic Fringe Irrigation, her next show should be a classic!“
So, we are now at that very show, the journey continues, & the comedy has kept flowing in roseate abundance. For a full hour Candace screws us into our seats, she’s got a really nice vibe, like, with a kinda catchphrasey tone to the delivery of each of her punchlines, which keep on coming all hour in an effortless & unceasing series of quality gags.
“We live in an age of great political upheaval – but I’m just chilling!”
Out of Memphis & the Bible Belt, she has teleported herself into the London comedy circuit, with an occasional wander round Stoke Newington on shrooms. Along with the rest of the capital’s circuit, she has join’d their communal, en masse summer vacation in Edinburgh, where she presents us with the sacred trinity of her material – anti-Americana, the sexual adventuring of a woman abroad, & the dichotic experience of being loved & raised by one parent, & abandon’d by the other. A really interesting blend, the quintessence of three dimensional, I guess. When she moves to her ‘epic shagging’ material, you do get the feeling we’re out of Fringe show territory & into her floor spot material, but an hour’s an hour & it needs filling, & the transition is not too rough a stitching on the seam.
“As long as you’re paying for dinner, this little piggie will go home!”
All throughout, MILF gets better & better, a far cry from the clock-watching ‘are we finish’d yet’ of most comedian’s Fringe hours. Then we came to Bryan’s finale, which I thought was really clever. I’m gonna refrain from spoiling it, only to say its rare for a comedian to tell the same jokes twice, & get better laughs the second time – a wee slice of ingenuity that shows comedy as an art form is still evolving, & with artists like Bryan still in the vernal stages of their careers, it’s an exciting time to be among the cognoscente!
Damo
themumble.uk 