Comedians Of The World: Ellie Taylor – Cravings | Netflix special reviewed by Steve Bennett
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Comedians Of The World: Ellie Taylor – Cravings

Note: This review is from 2019

Netflix special reviewed by Steve Bennett

Ali Wong may have got there first, but it’s still very rare to see a pregnant woman fronting a stand-up special.

And it’s no surprise that impending motherhood occupies Ellie Taylor’s thoughts in Cravings, a half-hour show in which she discusses the likes of her reluctant sobriety, bodily changes such as a fight against facial hair, and the pantomime of keeping her pregnancy secret in its first trimester.

Some of these things might have heard before from mothers-to-be, but she also talks about some aspects that are largely taboo, such as how it’s ‘fucking weird’ to feel her baby moving inside her.

Likewise, although the Mash Report ‘news’reader is happily married, she confesses that monogamy feels like a bind. She certainly wishes she’d had sex with more people in her past, having been sexually aware at the age of four, but barely played the field.

Although such thoughts are rarely expressed, it can also feel as if Taylor is holding back on us a bit, with jokes that are just a bit too polished.

Much of this might be attributed to a delivery that seems stagey. Almost every punchline is prefaced by a beat in which she widens her eyes to an exaggerated extent, a theatrical expression matched by a carefully-posed gesture or well-rehearsed mini-act-out of what she’s describing. It is most definitely a performance. 

She’s very relatable, though, and amusingly describes scenarios such as going for a pap smear or the serious-minded approach to having sex for reproduction, not just for fun.

These are not the only funny routines in Cravings, but while dependably witty, Taylor’s special doesn’t quite have the strength of personality to stand out among today’s huge Netflix dump.

Ellie Taylor – Cravings  was released on Netflix today as part of its Comedians Of The World series. Watch here

Review date: 1 Jan 2019
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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