Cariad Lloyd - The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd

Cariad Lloyd was one of the surprise finds of last year’s Free Fringe, nominated for Best Newcomer for her character comedy turn. There’s certainly still a lot here to get excited about, but Lloyd often sets her sights just a little too high and shoots over the heads of her audience.

The premise is this: Lloyd has proved that she “can do comedy – that’s in the bag,” so she’s making the transition to theatre. She has to keep it a bit hush-hush though, as the Fringe authorities have seen what category she’s billed under in the brochure. 

It’s a neat way of framing her act, providing a strong through-line and allowing Lloyd to discuss and send up her insecurities about this ‘difficult second show.’ Perhaps she’s a little too open about this: within the first five minutes she’s quoting someone who advised against “doing Moomins,” as “not everyone knows them.” This is indeed a problem; Lloyd’s idiosyncratic references are often simply too obscure.

When you’re on board and the clever writing finds its mark, there’s gold to be had: her piss-take of Zooey Deschanel is hilarious, so convulsively kooky that she’s literally falling over, and worried that “girls don’t like me because I guess they can see what I’m doing.” But unless you know, for example, the typical structure of a TED Talk, or the ins and outs of Scandinavian crime fiction, you may well feel a little left out.

Lloyd is very definitely one to follow, but she could afford to look over her shoulder a bit to check we’re still with her.