Jess Fuchs is perhaps the only person to identify with the Titanic. No, not the film, the actual boat — the one which cracked in half and sank, back in 1912.
The Australian starts her set with the type of crowdwork that is expected from comedians catering primarily to straight, single, 30-something women (please, no-one ask about ghosting, ever again) before stepping into more unusual territory thanks to an unlikely “girls trip” to Ireland and a fateful journey to the seaport town of Cobh, which was the last place the Titanic docked before its catastrophic journey. Spoiler: a broken coccyx and metaphors about the cultural expectations heaped on finding ‘the One’, may or may not ensue.
Besides a desire to anthropomorphise ships of yesteryear, Fuchs also indulges other nostalgic fantasies: of Regency Era, Bridgerton-style cleavage hoisted to high heaven, and tradwife-adjacent fantasies of reverting to an age when women were not allowed to legally work. While the comedian archly flirts with the regressive impulse of the current, post-feminist moment, she saliently diagnoses issues with current heterosexual gender relations; suggesting, for example, that consent culture can be weaponised by men unwilling to learn non-verbal cues or more nuanced understandings of body language.
With these kind of observations into gender dynamics, and gags about getting fingered at the doctor’s, it’s hard not to be won over.
Jess Fuchs: Feral, Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 Aug (not 18), 6.55pm