How is someone with ADHD supposed to stay on course when their favourite game is talking to people and their job involves standing in front of crowds of them at a time? Zoë Coombs Marr, a Fringe mainstay at this point, contends with this question in her new hour The Splash Zone. But while it’s an endearing conceit, it – perhaps fittingly – feels less tightly crafted than previous shows.
The show is bookended by a unique and evocative cross country tale of the consequences of getting distracted. In hindsight, it was the first major tell of neurodivergence. But while deliberately meandering away from this charming childhood snapshot feels like the right call to make in terms of reinforcing the show’s themes, it’s not quite worth pulling focus from the best bit for so long.
The digression takes us into territory already well-trodden by the past year’s usual suspects of late-night TV opening monologues: Misguided Olympic Aussie darling Raygun; misinformation’s rifeness on the doomscroll apps; and the general shamelessness of Trump supporters, even in left-leaning spaces.
By the time we return to the oil-and-water story of ADHD and Marr’s first big solo train adventure as a child, it’s a welcome return to the track. Marr has proved time and again that she can craft a smart, pin-sharp Fringe show so it’s no surprise when the seeds planted by earlier jokes start to bloom for a succession of smart callbacks. But in The Splash Zone’s case, the journey is just a little less interesting than the destination.
Zoë Coombs Marr: The Splash Zone, Monkey Barrel Comedy, until 24 Aug (not 13, 20), 3.35pm