At Chortle Fast Fringe

Extract from her 2010 show Sara Pascoe vs Her Ego

More Sara Pascoe videos

Sara Pascoe has been working as a comedy actor, sketch performer, improviser and writer since 2006, when she joined the Newsreue topical sketch show. She started stand-up in late 2007 and the following year was a runner-up in the Funny Women competition and placed third in the So You Think You're Funny? new act competition.

In 2009, she landed a regular role in the Channel 4 sitcom Free Agents as the disrespectful assistant, Emma.

Sara Pascoe vs The Apocalypse
Live Review

Sara Pascoe opens her show by saying that last year’s Edinburgh hour attracted nine two-star reviews and contained a joke ‘so bad it made the news’; then tells us that she often ends up ploughing gigs into the ground, leaving the audience ‘awkward, disappointed and tense’.

Well, it’s not the end of the world; even if that is the theme of this follow-up, which she gets around to once she’s lowered our expectations.

She was probably right to do so, because she is not a dynamic performer who’s going to wow us with metaphorical fireworks. Her voice is a dry deadpan, the delivery almost soporific and the visuals extend to some hastily home-made PowerPoint slides, largely created by crayon.

The premise is that she is the last woman alive following the 2012 Armageddon supposedly predicted by the Mayans; so she can lay down the rules for the new society. At some point there would need to be other people for this to work, but that point is rather brushed over. However if you come to Pascoe’s world expecting logic, you’ve come to the wrong place.

She has the sort of weird surrealism of Noel Fielding, but whereas he gets excited by the nonsensical ideas he conjures up, she treats them as if they are boring and mundane. Her warped sensibilities are then applied to such pre-apocalyptic problems as pornography objectifying women and the Israeli-Palestine situation and post-apocalyptic problems such as repopulating the planet from a very restricted gene pool.

These are mixed in with her more personal baggage, such as relationship failures, sibling rivalry and all-consuming crush on Dizzee Rascal. The comedy works best when she’s being self-deprecating about herself, which we can identify with, rather than being self-deprecating about the material, which can prompt us to think she might have a point.

As she suggested it might, the show does indeed start to run out steam. But there are some good jokes before we get there, especially when she focus on the vaguely plausible, such as hoodwinking out-of-work actors into becoming teachers, rather than the obviously absurd. That said a mime section where she recreates one-woman versions of plays suggested by the audience – even if she’s never actually seen them – hits paydirt.

As part of the expectation-lowering into, Pascoe said she has at least something for everyone, but that no one will enjoy it all. As assessments go, that seems reasonable enough.

I saw her last night in Tooting and have to say she is fantastic! Very funny indeed! Would go see her again!

Ben, February 2012

Mediocrity personified. Why would I pay money to see this unless you like pretty blonde women with mockney voices? Fourth rate.

Mavis T., August 2010

I saw Sara at the Fringe, I largely agree with the Live Review. Sara is a great comedian with very witty and clever material, but, certainly on the night I went, the relationship with the audience didn't feel entirely at ease. She's like a Josie Long that hasn't yet quite worked out how to make the audience adore her. Having said that, it's obvious she has talent and skill, and any show she does is well worth a visit.

Matt Hemsley, August 2010

Saw Sara this weekend as part of a promising bill in Hammersmith and found her very amusing. Far more than expected to be honest! She came on with a slightly ditzy girl - faux naive stage persona which belied some very sharp writing in our opinion. She had a couple of great one-liners twisting the usual hack stuff which caused a bit of an “Oh! Did she really just say that?” double take audience response and not only from our group. Really enjoyed some original and impressive stuff on girl-boy relationship problems as well. She ended with a comedy song. Usually a phrase which causes us all to sigh inwardly with despair. It’s a tough thing to pull off yet Sara rallied us back with an inspired riff on Lady Gaga promoting some of the 'benefits of book reading' for teenagers. Her high standard of writing augers well for future developments we think. Well worth looking out for although a bit of a left field take on punch lines. One to watch!

Jeff, March 2010

Saw Sara again the other day. She has some really great writing and a wonderfully innocent persona to match some of her darker gags. Great stuff!

Steve McBride, September 2009

I don't know if Chris is referring to the 'stick and football' rape gag, but Pascoe has some very neat one-liners, that are original in attitude, offbeat and very very very funny!

Sam Gore, April 2009

Sara is absolutely wonderful, a complete delight to watch and she has my favourite joke of 2008.

Chris, December 2008