If there are common themes that quickly emerge within the comedy on offer at each year’s Fringe, Alex Berr is here with what must be a completely unique prospect: the American comic spent her early career as a biomedical researcher working to cure a rare form of unsurvivable brain cancer, only for her beloved mother to be diagnosed with the condition.
The subject matter promises to tug on the heartstrings, and not just those of the several thousand mice Berr describes dissecting over the course of the show. She paints a clear and affectionate picture of her late mother from the outset, setting up well for the inevitable gut punch to come. Crucially, though, she’s also very funny: a likeable and energetic presence, Berr weaves relatable content – eating disorders; one night stands – in with anecdotes about somewhat more niche topics, centrifuges and the anogenital distance of rodents among them. And when that gut punch does come, she lands it with a well-employed bit of physical comedy amidst the sentimentality.
This is a promising debut from Berr, who genuinely teaches audiences more than they bargained for about the titular subject, while also delivering a witty and moving hour.
How to Kill a Mouse, Just The Tonic at the Mash House, until 24 Aug (not 12), 12.35pm