Tiffany Stevenson: Dictators

“I’m a bit weird,” Tiffany Stevenson confesses as she attempts to explain why she has chosen to theme her show around dictators. The problem, however, is that Stevenson isn’t quite as weird and unique as she would have us think.

Dictators are not even what Stevenson really wishes to talk about. We get the idea of what might have happened had Hitler been on Facebook or Robert Mugabe sent to Pineapple Studios but Stevenson's treatment of the subject is neither insightful nor—crucially—funny enough to convince that she has something to say. Her failure to push her material further leaves her in no man’s land; the majority of her jokes are too light and flippant to raise anything more than a slightly uncomfortable feeling.

Stevenson clearly feels more settled when it comes to the power games of her own life. Both of her parents feature prominently and here there’s some nice material, even if Stevenson does occasionally come across as a petulant teenager still railing against a strict mother. She saves her longest diatribe, though, for OK magazine, her hatred of which, she admits, is somewhat disproportionate to that of the dictators she has discussed. She creates some laughter here, but it’s familiar territory and tells us little that's revelatory about Stevenson.

There’s an affability to Stevenson which makes Dictators a pleasant enough show. The problem is that, especially for a show bearing this title, pleasant isn’t quite good enough.