Alana Jackson follows up her So You Think You’re Funny? award with a confident hour of observational stand-up drawn from her personal experiences. The show is rich in charisma and wit, even if a few ideas don’t fully land. In a landscape filled with trauma-informed storytellers, absurdism and anti-comedy, it’s rewarding to see a young woman get up on stage and simply make us laugh with sharp takes on bingo, hangovers and the long Megabus to London.
Although she now resides in London, Jackson is Glasgow through-and-through. Much of her wit comes from her dry Glaswegian takes on topics such as London, sobriety, escape rooms and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her incredibly endearing personality means that you can’t help but laugh at her fish-out-of-water stories of pretending to be a paper bag to a class full of rich Americans.
There are moments though, where we can see where Jackson has space to grow. An extended bit about the manager of her pub fails to fulfil its potential, especially as it returns for the climax of the show. It is a shame, as the joke has a strong core but just needs to be a little more incisive. This is a relatively small bump in the road though, for what is otherwise a very promising debut.
Alana Jackson: Last Orders, Gilded Balloon Appleton Tower, until 24 Aug, 5pm