Sophie Willan: On Record

"D'you know what I mean?" A disclaimer to readers: it is not advisable to see Sophie Willan's new show if you do not know what she means. She will ask you. A lot. Annoying catchphrase aside, the Bolton-born comedian going On Record about her past makes for an amusing and introspective hour. 

Structured loosely around a social worker's case files of Willan's troubled childhood, the show plays out like an episode of This Is Your Life meets Shameless. Excerpts from the write-ups are helpfully shown on screen throughout. Her infectious charm serves as the conduit into a tale of herion-addicted parents, pre-pubescent alcoholism and foodstuffs squeezed through a letterbox. It may sound a little grim on paper but her happy-go-lucky nonchalance on stage makes it seem like a normal upbringing. She's impressively defiant in her attitude, inflecting enough humour into proceedings to keep it the right side of bleak. 

Occasionally there's too much surface-level froth (giggling about twerking and the like) and not enough exploration of the substance beneath. Her formative years are such a rich source of material for self-reflection (and she has the documents to prove it!), so why not delve a little deeper?

Regardless, it's entertaining to see such a gutsy expression of self-acceptance unfold on stage. It's often hard to know exactly "what she means", and perhaps that's just a simple empathy-sourcing gimmick, but she's honest and contemplative in ways you won't see in many other standup shows this Fringe.