Mae Martin: Slumber Party

The slightness of Mae Martin's build and her general air of vulnerability is accentuated tonight by her reliance on notes to see her through. Despite this crutch, her charm and kookiness win out. Alarmingly the 26-year-old Canadian is already nostalgic about her early teenage years and her theme, broadly speaking, is to revisit her, shall we say, first youth.

Through the gauze of the past she gets an idea of why she's gay (approx 25% of the reason is Buffy the Vampire Slayer), why she sometimes gulps in the middle of sentences and why, when she does get her words together, inappropriate things may fall out of her mouth, at least under pressure of talking dirty. Likened mostly to inanimate objects, doomed to Harry Potter-themed presents and a personification of the struggle between technology and the simpler things in life, Martin has a lot to be gently self-deprecating about. So much so that conveying her neuroses to us tonight has become a bit rushed, and at various points it feels like a joke had an extra dimension choked off.

The benefit of the doubt could be given here because it is still pretty clear that this solo show has somewhere to go. However, it is now her third consecutive Fringe hour and working without notes will not paper over all of the cracks. It's a tough call. Comparisons to Maria Bamford or Rita Rudner could justly be made, but to reach such a pantheon she will need to be more rigorous in her preparation.