Review by Steve Bennett

This is a double header with Becky Donohue opening. With tales of her use of natural deodorant and a shopping trip to buy crackers this is not inspiring stuff and Donohue seems perplexed and angry that the small audience are not laughing. She tried some audience banter which led to more confusion as she struggled with the Scottish accents in the room and had difficulty ad libbing anything of note.

She returned to her material about her Columbian mother and her racist grandmother, inserting a little choice racism of her own about having a black man in your bed, before continuing to berate the audience for not enjoying it.

A couple of people left before the more enjoyable Nicole Korkolis took to the stage. Again the material was somewhat weak with some darker, more risque lines and a delivery dripping with sarcasm and sweetness. Korkolis also addressed the audiences silence, but actually managed to find some lines to break the tension and grab some laughs pointing out that Stockholm Syndrome was kicking in and she could start to feel some love in the room.

She tells that she used to attend law school with her parents spending all their money on keeping her out of places like the sleazy comedy clubs in New York and her objection to being told to have babies before she is too old. Both these stories come with a few opportunities to giggle but are told with a slight hint of unintended regret which doesn’t sit well with the lines.

The duo are obviously jaded and worn by this festival with numerous remarks about remortgaging houses to be here and a cracking joke from Korkolis about how to get into shows free with performers’ lanyards, apparently all you need to do is spend £20,000 to put a show on. Korkolis may be suffering festival fatigue but is worth investing in. Donohue would be better staying at home and keeping her ponderings over math and maths to herself.

Reviewed by: Corry Shaw

Review date: 1 Jan 2008
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett