What Now?
Live Review: Bridget Christie – What Now? ★★★★.75
Leicester Square Theatre, 11th October 2018.
Written by Alex Finch in Comedy To Watch on October 12th, 2018
I first saw Bridget Christie when she was pretending to be an ant, which made me a fan for life. Unfortunately I missed out on her breakthrough show, A Bic for Her, as I was recovering from extensive surgery but haven’t missed one since, and this is her best yet. She’s easily one of the finest comedians this country has to offer, and whilst I wasn’t quite so enamoured with her previous show, Because You Demanded It, where she tried to come to terms with Brexit, it wasn’t because it wasn’t funny – compared to 99% of stand up shows it was superb, it just wasn’t quite as angry as I’d hoped it be. But that’s clearly my issue rather than Christie’s.
What Now? is angry however, and gloriously so. Starting with a fun routine about a new dishwasher which displays the time on the floor, it turns in to a shockingly funny rant about the stress of rolling news, it’s paranoia inducing tendencies, and how it takes all of the fun out of auto-erotic asphyxiation. Christie’s completely self aware throughout given that she’s a fairly well off comedian, playing with the concept of her status and how it effects her which only makes the material funnier. There’s also segments concerning bath bombs and the relationship with her husband, an amazing part about her cat eating dental floss which absolutely slayed me, her views on Ed Sheeran, and Theresa May’s disturbingly dark inner cheek (which she postulates could possibly be a black hole). Much of this includes attacks on our politicians over Brexit, the horrendous way they’re running the country, and the funniest material on Donald Trump that I’ve heard so far. And as I see a fair amount of comedy I’ve heard an awful lot. If there’s a minor issue with the set it’s that the first half ends on jokes about male waxing which Bridget herself wasn’t happy with, but they still made the audience laugh a great deal.
After the interval she dives in to a routine where she claims she hates lying, and comes clean that she’s been lying about being a feminist for six years now. She launches in to what must be the best impression of Russell Brand and his take on feminism ever created, which then leads in to a description of a meeting with a top British tv comedy producer that is hysterically funny yet also quite horrifying as his actions and words are that of an absolute c**t. Whilst she calls him out in the meeting itself (frustratingly leading her to not getting a tv show, which I’ll never forgive this unnamed individual for) I only wish Christie had revealed his identity, though for legal reasons I can understand why she didn’t. It tallies with everything I’ve heard about those responsible for commissioning comedy on tv right now, and also explains why so much of it is depressingly bad.
This segues in to a routine about marriage and redefining what happiness is, before ending on a segment about her children and how she absolutely adores them and loves them but has nothing in common with them, and is tired of their constantly lying, which works beautifully as a metaphor for Putin and Trump’s actions. One of the best stand up shows I’ve seen in years this sees Christie at the very top of her game, and I’m truly excited to see what she offers up next.
★★★★.75
4.75 / 5, and that’s only because I can’t bring myself to ever rate anything 5/5 as nothing is absolutely perfect, though I’m also aware that makes a mockery out of the whole ratings system. Sorry about that.
Written by Alex Finch in Comedy To Watch on 12th October 2018.
Filed Under: What Now?, Review