Day 2! We begin with a show that George describes as too early, which is the latest start of the whole trip - 12.30pm. Lauren has cornered her lunch time slot at Monkey Barrel, and I’m glad for it. It seems like the afternoon, over the last few Fringes, has become a much more coveted spot than the evenings, which is interesting, to me, at least.
I think our Fringe schedules are split into two categories - straight stand up done well, and the weird stuff. Lauren Pattison is very much the former, and sometimes you just can’t beat it. There’s nothing world changing in Big Girl Pants, but it’s an hour of well-written and heartfelt material delivered by a warm, charismatic person of whom you’re happy to be in their company.
Having written something of one last year, I now find it a lot of fun to watch other comedians - and inevitably a lot of the ones I identify with or am friends with - do their “turning 30” show. How horrifically vain of all of us to think 30 is a milestone anymore. For Lauren, this looks like trying to become braver, learning to drive, and dealing with a whole load of other stuff. Which is all, granted, much more thematically interesting than mine, well done her.
She’s also very aware of the implicit and explicit expectations of an Edinburgh show (of course she is! She’s been doing this for 12 years!), and manages to play with that, invert that, but also still kind of hew to it, which is a very impressive amount of cake having and eating. Importantly, though, for while there is the sad emotional bit, it feels in service of something true to her, rather than just because the narrative structure demands it. Harder to pull off than you might think.
I do think I might have preferred her last show, but there’s not much in it. It’s really nice to see someone consistently do good shows but also taking the time to alternate Fringes to look after themselves. A good ethos.