Lucy Porter

Lucy Porter: Wake-Up Call

12/08/22

Pleasance Courtyard (Forth), Edinburgh

Lucy Porter is as vivacious and likeable as ever – her bright-eyed enthusiasm is hard to resist. Perhaps she relies on this a little bit too much in this loosely-structured show, however, which seems to skirt around a point it never quite makes. 

The premise is ostensibly about a mid-life ‘crisis’, resolved by the wake-up call of the title. It’s relatable (most of the audience – including me – are in the same age bracket as Porter) but there isn’t really anything calamitous or, well, crisis-like here, just a vague sense of anxiety about getting old.

There are lots of laughs though. It’s a pleasant, meandering monologue, and Porter’s warmth and charm shine through. But I’m left wanting something more. That bed, for instance. It’s an enormous prop. It must be a pain in the arse to store and set up. But it’s a perfect example of Chekhov’s gun principle – if it’s not going to be used, what’s it doing there? (Okay, so it is used, in fact, but only for a nano-second, and not to any great effect.) 

An agreeable way to spend an hour, this one’s probably the perfect tonic if you’re in the mood for an undemanding treat. 

3 stars 

Susan Singfield 

Lucy Porter: Consequences

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23/11/16

The Stand, Edinburgh

Lucy Porter’s Consequences is a slyly clever show. We’re beguiled in the first half by her friendly, chatty persona; it’s a conversational, observational three-quarters of an hour, consistently funny but never challenging, focusing on ageing, class status, and suburban family life. There are chocolates and there is port, given liberally to audience members who respond to her questions. There are some gentle comparisons between young and old (Philip is called upon to represent the old, but he’s not very good at it: he doesn’t  – it transpires – even know what an A road is). There’s wit and warmth, and it’s easy to enjoy. And then there is the second half. And that’s very different.

Because the second half interrogates all that we have heard before. The consequences, so to speak. The acknowledgement that sixteen-year-old Lucy would likely launch a blistering attack on her forty-three-year-old future self, for selling out and not living up to all of her ideals. And then an endearingly honest self-examination: what does current Lucy think she needs to change? Her attitude to trans rights, for example, is analysed and found wanting, so she educates herself, talks to people who know more: older Lucy still wants to get it right, is still prepared to learn. Oh yeah, and she’s still funny. And charming. And far more demanding than that first half led us to believe. It’s a neat conceit, and beautifully done.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

 

The Fair Intellectual Club

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07/08/14

Studio 2, The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

The Fair Intellectual Club is comedian Lucy Porter’s first foray into play writing, and it’s certainly a promising start. It tells the true tale of three young women who, in 1717 – at the dawn of the Scottish Enlightenment, set up an illicit club with the aim of studying literature, science and philosophy, determined not to be kept in ignorance merely by virtue of their sex. This was a risky venture, with social censure and reputations at stake, and Porter cleverly conveys a sense of genuine peril and brave rebellion.

The director’s light touch means that we focus on the actors (Samara MacLaren, Caroline Deyga and Jessica Hardwick), who convey their respective characters with exuberance and wit. The three girls have a convincing rapport, with all the love, anger, misery and jealousy of a real friendship beautifully portrayed. There are moments of real heartbreak – and of untamed laughter; this play is definitely one to watch. It has a contemporary resonance that should not be ignored.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Lucy Porter – Me Time

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31/07/14

Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh

Lucy Porter supplied a chirpy, exuberant start to Ed Fest 2014. Porter is what used to be called a ‘pocket dynamo’ – tiny and full of energy, she launched headfirst into her routine and rarely stopped for breath along the way. There’s nothing remotely ‘new’ or indeed challenging about her approach to comedy, but she’s so charming and charismatic that this hardly seems to matter. Her stories are essentially anecdotal (I loved the remark that when she and her very tall husband, Justin, have sex, he looks like he’s wearing a novelty glove puppet), and she has an easy rapport with the audience, making this a delightful experience. This was a lunchtime preview show, so some of the timings and the musical links hadn’t quite been worked out, but this will surely only get better as the festival progresses. We could have chosen a lot worse to kick things off.

3.8 stars

Philip Caveney