Confident, comfortable and in control. A hugely impressive debut from a comedian who gives her more experienced peers a run for their money.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Despite Transience being her debut hour at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Upstairs at the Pleasance Courtyard, Chloe Petts exerts a level of confidence and ability rarely found in someone so early on in their comedy career that you'll be forgiven for thinking this was in fact her fifth or sixth hour.
Chloe - like so many other comedians - had planned on taking Transience to the Fringe in 2020, but it would unfair of me to say that having two further years to perfect her debut is the only reason why her debut hour is such a triumph.
If your material isn't up to scratch and you don't know how to deliver it, all the time in the world isn't going to help. Neither could be further from the truth here.
With help from director Rose Johnson, Chloe tackles the topic of gender from the perspective of someone who has become the man she's always wanted to be. Someone who has been fully embraced by lad culture.
There's an unhelpful narrative at the moment that conversations around gender have to be divisive, heated and controversial and few dispel this myth better than Chloe. Her ability to tell such timely and important stories with warmth, beauty and silliness really does set her apart from her peers as an excellent storyteller.
From the moment she steps out on stage, Chloe is confident, comfortable and in control of her material. She knows who she is and is at complete ease on stage with a microphone.
Whilst some Fringe shows struggle to strike the balance between an important issue at its core and humour, this is something Chloe really doesn't have to worry about. Every story Chloe tells has humour running through it, whether that's cosplaying as a straight girl at age 16, being misgendered, her love of football and endless stories that I wouldn't wish to fill this review with.
Impossible to criticise, Transience is a hugely impressive debut, from a comedian who gives her more experienced peers a run for their money and I really didn't want this show to end. Audible laughter filled the room and as I walked down the stairs back into the Pleasance Courtyard, I found my jaw aching from just how much I laughed.
In the next few years, I predict that Chloe Petts will be one of those names I'll proudly say I saw in a small room at the Fringe. There are some comedians who debut at the Fringe that are special, who have a talent that deserves to be seen and appreciated and for me, there's no greater example of that than Chloe Petts.
Now she's been fully embraced by lad culture, I'd love to see Chloe fully embraced by the industry with nationwide sell-out tours, her own TV show and frankly, whatever the hell she wants because she deserves it all.
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