Well, this is a really classy hour of standup from Australian Lizzy Hoo. And by classy I don’t mean, like, classy. “You will have to give me eye contact later when I get really filthy,” she warns the front row. True to her word, it’s not that long before she’s talking about her brother’s big cums. And yet, how she’s walked us there feels completely reasonable. And, yes, she’s more than able to maintain eye contact throughout. The horror!
No, it’s the writing and delivery here that are really top class, and it’s hard to imagine how much effort has gone into polishing every line and beat of Hoo’s Edinburgh debut. Genuinely, she’s covered all of the bases. There’s no waffle: The writing is stripped back to essential words only. You can see the way she manipulates pace, pauses, tension, relief, tonal shift. There’s a control here that means she’s able to skirt controversy without ever feeling on thin ice. “OK, lighten up Edinburgh!” she says knowingly as she edges into material on Asian stereotypes. She’s able to balance moments of relatability with flashes of, and there’s no other way of putting this, scorn. It’s all rather exciting.
Nor is this a shiny wrapper for second hand goods. Hoo’s takes on the different DMs she and her male colleagues get is neat, and she spins her weirdo messengers out into a full imagined relationship. You wouldn’t think you could roast your own father for volunteering in a hospital. Hoo can. Hoo can do it all, really.
Lizzy Hoo – Says Hoo?, Assembly George Square Studios, until 30 Aug (not 19), 8pm