Aisling Bea: C'est La Bea

Delightful Irish comic Aisling Bea attracted all the attention last year after winning So You Think You’re Funny?—only the second female standup to do so—but of course had already carved out a fruitful career in television. With professional acting and writing credits, sweetened by award success and a now perfected live routine, there’s lots to be happy about.

This is accomplished comedy for Bea’s standup debut, with roots as deep and roving as Irish stereotypes. Bea spins her hayseed origins at full tilt, leaning on yet utterly obliterating the perception of bumpkin life. Everything on show, from the only nightclub in a 20-mile radius to the exclusively Irish throat muscle that prevents her from cheery tunefulness, is frolicsome, well-observed and meticulously delivered. Bea packs more explosive energy into her set than Edinburgh’s midnight fireworks: it’s joyous to be in the crowd as she makes us feel as at home as she is on stage.

But what of her real talents? The swaggering, multi-tasking show-off finale? Mind-blowing. Peer through cracked fingers as she charms with flicks of the hair and flirty chats with the audience. This mix of marvellous bedlamite humour injects moments of flyweight relief alongside flashes of serious political satire in a show which corners through material with grit and guile. Bea is one of few comics to make her hour-long show seem short, with a completely natural gift for storytelling and punch lines.