06/08/24

Gilded Balloon (The Patter Hoose), Edinburgh

American actor/ musician Joanna Parson relates the story of the years she spent working for “Transcribers’ Express” (not their real name) in New York City, typing up news reports and magazine bulletins previously recorded on tape. It takes a special skill set to do the job effectively but Parson, armed with her ergonomic keyboard, quickly discovers she has a knack for it. At first it’s just a temporary solution, a way of earning easy money in between auditions for shows that never seem to come off. It’s also a way to finance her grocery and bar bills.

But the short term fix soon develops into long years of service, the day job ousting the dream.  Parson chronicles the ups and downs of her tenure in a series of short songs, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She’s a confident performer with a likeable line of patter and the songs range from an upbeat celebration off the joys of whisky to a plaintive, thoughtful meditation on 9/11. She rounds it all off with a jolly singalong, supplying the lyrics on a back projection, and the crowd happily complies.

This is enjoyable though I’m not always convinced that there’s quite enough material here to justify the length of the set and, in some cases – the 9/11 section in particular – Parson is skating over the surface rather than digging deeper into the material. All freelancers will be familiar with the unpredictability of their work and the need for a back-up plan. The revelation that Parson has now set up her own business offering transcribers a friendlier working environment seems to illustrate the old adage ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.’ Surprisingly, the idea that AI could soon supersede such operatives isn’t touched on.

Anybody with an hour to spare at lunchtime should make their way to the Patter Hoose. Ergonomic keyboards are optional.

3.4 stars

Philip Caveney