“Hot Mess” is Angle Barnes’ first Fringe show since 2018, and it is true to form with plenty of one-liners, horrible imagery and hilarity.
There are plenty of comedians at the Fringe this year that have been sharing their lockdown experiences, which mainly involve conference call comedy shows, and Angela Barnes show is no different. However, her lockdown experience took her through the biggest emotional highs and lows you could have to deal with. “Hot Mess” is her time to vent about what happened over the last three years, and no one is safe. The government, the Prime Minister, well, that’s the main category of people she has a bone to pick with.
The show was originally intended to be about her recent ADHD diagnosis, but rather ironically, she got distracted from that. Instead, the show mainly focuses on her life over the past three years, getting married, getting drunk and buying useless thing after useless thing. These traits could be problematic if you didn’t take lockdown into account, but once you do, it’s safe to say we were all like Angela Barnes.
Without giving too much away, she speaks a lot about some struggles that she dealt with during the times of social distancing and household bubbles. Even though the subject matter is upsetting, Angela Barnes handles it by having a laugh, which is refreshing for the show and gives a true insight into her character offstage, an insight which shows that she is probably the exact same whether she is on stage or not.
The Fringe has gone four years without a show from Angela Barnes, and “Hot Mess” does not disappoint. Even though a lot of the material focuses on lockdown and Boris Johnson, which is a subject area that is being used by most comedians at the festival this year, she has a unique story that few people will be able to relate to. The content is funny and the comic is not trying to sugar coat anything, welcome back, Angela Barnes.
Angela Barnes: Hot Mess, 19.00, August 10-14, 16-28
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/angela-barnes-hot-mess
