Kerry Gilbert Gives Love A Bad Name
Live Review

Ah, that staple of the Fringe; the assured young thespian bringing a considerable acting talent to bear on a series of comedy characters, making them all utterly believable, rounded and with an emotional connection to the audience – but putting ‘funny’ so far down the list of attributes, it’s almost imperceptible.

There’s a lot to admire about Kerry Gilbert, and you can probably expect to see her popping up in supporting role in all sorts of TV shows on the back of this showcase performance – but with a cast of pretty unmemorable creations, it’s far from establishing her as a character comedian in her own right.

The skills she has area apparent; a chameleon-like quality to lose herself in the characters, whether it be a doddery old woman simplifying the plots of films, to the Franglais-speaking Edith – even a guide dog, talking about her owner as if a partner. Her creation of an Australian backpacker, professing to love her ‘awesome’ party lifestyle though secretly missing her friends and family back home is almost heartbreakingly poignant. But it’s the same problem that constantly blights this comedy show: heartbreakingly poignant isn’t funny.

Even when an idea does present itself as obviously comic – such as the middle-aged, middle-class housewife living with a zombie husband – it’s played so straight, that it’s only mildly amusing. And I defy anyone not to be thinking of Shaun Of The Dead when she does this.

Very loosely, the show is themed about relationships, which is only one step more specific than being about ‘stuff’, and coasts along nicely, with attention to detail in scene changes and production. That a couple of the characters recur with variations on the same half-joke is disappointing, though, and there are many lulls even over just 45 minutes.

Gilbert is a charismatic and convincing actor; but her show has little personality of its own, with characters that are far too subdued.