★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
A lacklustre debut that failed to deliver.
One third of sketch group Massive Dad, Stevie Martin decided do what fellow member Tessa Coates did last year and perform a solo hour at the Fringe, simply titled Stevie Martin Vol.1.
An hour full of intros is a funny joke, for the first five or ten minutes, but after an hour it's safe to say that the joke wore a bit thin. The joke being that Stevie can or can't see something through. I'm not entirely sure.
Coming from a sketch show background, where beginnings, middles and ends are so important I was surprised to see Stevie do away with middles and ends. The material in many of these openings was strong, but like sketch shows the hit rate is variable, and with only openings to go on it was a challenge to invest in something that you knew wasn't going to go anywhere.
Unfortunately, I found Vol. 1 a lacklustre debut that failed to deliver. She jokes that Vol. 2 in 2019 will contain only middles and Vol. 3 in 2020 will only contain endings. At least... I hope she was joking.
I do however want to see Stevie back next year, or the year after, but with a show that is better structured, more complete and without such a limiting format.
Stevie Martin Vol.1 runs until 27th August at 6pm at the Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Below). Book tickets here.
(This review was based on the performance from Saturday 18th August 2018)
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