Comedy review: Martha McBrier, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House – The Loft, Edinburgh
Martha McBrier, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House – The Loft * * *
Martha McBrier is the kind of comic from whom you do not simply get a show, you get a little relationship. She is constantly in among the audience, chatting to people as we come in, making sure we are OK. It is like having the funniest mum in the world.
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Hide AdThis year’s hour, Happiness Bully, is very close to her heart. She works in suicide prevention and has a loathing of the “cheer up” brigade. The original version of her show was a lot about a work colleague who ended up on a bridge, ready to jump. That and twin unprecedented attacks on dolphins and Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colours were just too much for her audiences. So she has rewritten pretty much the entire thing.
Dolly and the dolphins are safe and what we get is a classic McBrier retelling of the story of the wee Somali lady at the bus stop. Compassion is now at the heart of the hour – especially Glaswegian compassion.
She leaves us with a gift, a way of making yourself feel better on a bad day. To be honest, with apologies to Gene Kelly, there is no better way to improve your mood than to go and watch Martha for an hour.
KATE COPSTICK
Until 25 August