Having successfully made the transition from disciplined one-liner comic to a somewhat looser storyteller, Adele Cliff has been handed a rite-of-passage moment for any seasoned Fringe comedian. Gradually winding her way round to her revelation, wary of disclosing it too early lest it colour too much of everything else, she’s an act well-versed in comedy conventions. She’s keen to challenge commonplace ideas about truth and bravery in the artform or the psychological impact of reviews. And if that all sounds a bit insider-y, well, Cliff is an unrepentant nerd with niche interests, who’ll even pick a fight with gravity given half a chance. Though her unintentionally slapstick appearance at the Leicester Comedy Festival suggests that there would only be be one winner in that confrontation.
Insisting on defining herself more classily than a cat lady, despite her magnet-like draw for felines, Cliff tends to take an argumentative line, randomly riling up Romanian taxi drivers but generally tossing out vaguely contentious premises, then painstakingly justifying them with original thinking and a reliable trove of solid if unspectacular anecdotes. Talking about her family has been awkward in the past and it’s no easier now. Yet she deftly turns the personal into the endearing and amusing here.
Adele Cliff: Adele, Adele, Adele… Cliff It Isn’t the Consequences of My Own Actions, Just The Tonic at The Mash House, until 24 Aug (not 12), 5.05pm