Southsider
Until 24th Aug (not 18th) – 19:00
Liz Guterbock is trying to be nice. An optimistic goal for most people in the current socio-political climate, let alone for an American living abroad. It has now become de rigeur for any comedian hailing from stateside to proclaim their political leanings to their crowd, to ensure that none of the global ire for their current Commander in Chief is projected in their direction. So for Liz to try to deliver an hour of material which doesn’t segway into anti-Trump rants at any point is quite the task. Add to this that the performance space in the Southsider where we find ourselves is not ideal for creating a ‘calm’ atmosphere. Liz is separated from the rowdy dinner time pub punters, and the toilets, by a thin black cloth which is to noise control what chocolate is to fire guards. If they were handing out awards at this years Fringe for ‘grit’, Liz Guterbock would surely top the poll.
Maintaining distinctly un-American grace under fire, our host takes us through a series of anecdotes, reflections, and mini performances, which describe the challenges of a being a Yank abroad, with culture clashes and misunderstandings between our erstwhile heroine and a variety of characters who all push her to the edge of comportment. Liz mines material from 15yrs worth of trying to adjust to British life as a guilty American. We hear tales of terrifying clown teachers and voice-over artist royalty, phone thefts and embarrassing casting in adverts for gastro-intestinal medicine. All of these tales circle back to our hosts unresolved duality of identity, both between being an American who identifies more with the British, but cannot understand the culture, and a ‘nice’ person trying to live in an increasingly unpleasant world.
To ameliorate this internal tension, Gutenbock regularly breaks out into a series of impersonations and mini sketches, allowing her ‘characters’ to project some of the unresolved rage simmering beneath the surface. Donald Trump as played by Jennifer Coolidge is particularly memorable and wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of South Park. Similarly, her impressions of the middle-class, middle-English, friends and acquaintances are on point, neatly skewering uniquely English idiosyncracies such as ‘the art of the moan’, self-deprecation as defence mechanism and an inability to be happy with almost any weather. Her observational sections are strong, particularly when accompanied with the impressions which allow her to flex her acting chops.
The unresolved tension within Liz somewhat spills over into the material, and throughout it is hard to tell exactly what she wants this show to be. Socio-political material is scattered throughout, each of these sections bookended with a ‘gah, I was trying to be nice here!’, displaying mock frustration at the worlds seemingly endless attempts to thwart her on her mission to spread ‘niceness’. This is some of the best material however, and it would have been good for these sections to be strategically deployed with increasing regularity as the show progressed, to mirror the Sisyphean task she has set herself, of trying to keep calm and carry on in an increasingly angry society.
Throughout, there are a great variety of skills on display from this actress come voiceover artist, come clown, come comedian, and her ability to keep the audience engaged in spite of the constant noise from behind the curtain is testament to her skills as a performer. I hope that as the Fringe progresses Liz takes time to let her jokes land, sets out a clear focus for the audience at the beginning of the show, and finds a greater balance between the political, the personal, and the sensational impressions. A full hour of Coolidge as Trump would be worth a show in and of itself.
Ewan Law
themumble.uk 