Everything Theatre Reviews, interviews and news for theatre lovers, London and beyond
Part of the Camden Fringe 2013
Written and performed by Rosie Wilby
★★★★
Pros: Rosie’s very natural, relaxed and inclusive style of stand up and intelligent, piquant material provides continuous laughs throughout. Lots of variety in the approach keeps the pace and the interest up.
Cons: I’m not sure who was seated in the front row to my left, but I felt the show was almost exclusively for them. It would have been nice to see Rosie spread her eye contact around the audience more freely.
Our Verdict: Intelligent and original material delivered with an easy, natural style makes this an hour of comedy worth seeing. Rosie is a talented stand up, and is destined for a bigger audience.
 |
It has got to be the toughest gig on the planet. Taking the stage on your own to a diverse audience who have bought tickets expecting to laugh. Thankfully Rosie Wilby has got this nailed and is on the stage a matter of seconds before she has the audience chuckling and smiling. The laughter comes easily throughout as Rosie takes us on a discourse about relationships, gay, straight and lesbian, and the implications of different choices, nuances and humour of various combinations. When I put it like that it sounds a little dry, but rest assured this show is far from it. There are tangents and imagery, self-effacing anecdotes and audience interaction to keep the show buoyant. Rosie has the audience eating out of her hand– even the heckling is flipped for the benefit of the rest of us. Rosie is a pro, as good as many of the higher profile female stand ups. She has an instantly personable presence and a very natural, uncomplicated style of delivery, making it very easy to relax and laugh along. She made my face ache after 45 minutes and when it comes to humour I am hard to please.
Underlying this talented delivery is material that is both intelligent and relatable. It’s a fair bet that the audience are in a relationship (or have been at some point) and the inclusion of comments about all facets of sexual choices means there is something for everyone to laugh with and at. But these are not cheap gags. There is a very clever show and even when you are laughing at something a little base, there is a lot more going on behind the humour. This show got us talking afterwards, about both the funny side of varying sexual choices as well as the pros and cons. Anecdotes drawn form personal experiences give the show an ingenuous quality and left me thinking that Rosie’s talent is destined for a larger audience.
Is Monogamy Dead? At the Camden Head on 29th July 2013 then transfers to Assembly Hall, Edinburgh Fringe until 25th August 2013.
Box office +44 (0)131 226 0000 or book on line at https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/rosie-wilby-is-monogamy-dead
