Show Details
Lucy Porter: The Bare Necessities
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2008
Starring Comic:
Lucy Porter

Lucy Porter: The Bare Necessities


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Description

Since 2001, Lucy has been a huge hit at the Edinburgh festival with her distinctive, bouncy, feel-good comedy. There’s always a philosophical element to her shows, and The Bare Necessities is Lucy’s least fluffy, most thought-provoking show to date.

She talks about the things that matter in her life: The erosion of our civil liberties, the rise of surveillance society, the infantilization of grown-ups, the reason why so many comedians are depressive alcoholics and the ingredients for a really excellent dirty martini.

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Reviews

Original Review:

Show Rating:Lucy Porter: The Bare Necessities rated 2/5

The charmingly effervescent Lucy Porter is one of the warmest, most effortlessly delightful comics on the circuit – which means criticising her show is akin to punching a kitten. Well stand by, Tiddles…

Inspired by credit-crunch belt-tightening, The Bare Necessities is about what essentials we need to get by in life. It seems that the first thing Porter has decided to cut back on is content, with scant jokes illustrating superficial opinions in a meandering, flimsy show.

She cruises along on winsome likeability alone, not really applying herself to creating anything substantial. And if you’re cynical about sweetness, beware… she performs in front of an impossibly cutesy picture of a puppy and some ducks, while he finale involves her reading a saccharine list of homespun aphorisms that probably wouldn’t look out of place on souvenir-stall tea towel.

Porter oozes positivity, and I started keeping track of how many things were ‘brilliant’ or ‘great’ or ‘lovely’, but couldn’t keep up. Still as an application of neuro-linguistic programming to spread a subliminal message, it’s quite impressive.

As always, it’s the moments that challenge this sweet image that are funniest, such as when she comes out with an overly-bitchy comment or mentions casually that she used to share a flat with heroin addicts. These offer a couple of nice lines, a practical joke you can play in Lidl being a third. But these moments aside, there’s very little of the sharp writing or insight of which she’s previously proved herself capable.

Instead, she keeps up throwing up suggestions such as whether money can buy you happiness and concludes ‘well, sort of…’ She says she’s worried about privacy and concludes, well… nothing.

The hour, though skilfully delivered by an expert communicator, feels like a rushed last-minute essay on the subject, full of half-explored ideas and ill-collated notes, rather than the fruits of a year’s work by an accomplished comedian. ‘Could do better,’ is the only verdict. And we know she could.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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Comments

I think Lucy is best suited for a 10min slot in variety show or an MC role. She pads her hour long show with inanities and trite comedy. Nothing insightful fresh or challenging is delivered or even hinted at. However she is a consummate communicator, it's just a pity there is so little to communicate. Save yourself £15 and get a half decent steak - it'll be more substantial.

Owen, April 2009


Good review. I saw the show on Friday and it was mildly funny but her delivery was muddled and none of the gags hit home very well. £14 is getting steep for an hour of this quality. The barbershop quartet at the end was the best bit.

Niall, August 2008



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