When you’re handed a custard cream by a drag queen with a distinctive Northern English drawl, you know you’re in for a show. Holly Stars concludes her biscuit dispensing and begins her soliloquy; after facetiously addressing the resemblance to Dannii Minogue, she proceeds, at a steady pace, into gags about life before google – “medieval times” – and how many Xanax is safe to consume with a Tia Maria. Her garish quips and outlandish tales are delightfully entertaining, but you start to wonder whether there’s more to it than what’s on the surface.
She gives you a brief introduction to the show’s concept – a terrible miscarriage of justice carried out by the bigwigs at Superdrug – and she spends the rest of her time filling in the gaps and elucidating her plight. It turns out to be a sprawling, sneakily engaging tale of whimsy and crimes of such absurdity you can’t help but be swept up in all of Stars’ ridiculous flights of fancy. Her tales include a colourful cast of characters and asides which oscillate between hilarious and eyeroll inducing.
The ridiculousness and incredulity of Stars’ character and brand of comedy do wear thin after some time, and the show can feel disappointingly one-note. Her leisurely pace and delivery can also be frustrating as it feels as if she is stuttering and meandering through her points. The highlights are there, however, and some absolutely deranged gags about tobacco orphans and the “lady lifters” international crime syndicate are a delight to behold.
Holly Stars: Justice For Holly, 18.30, Assembly George Square, until August 26
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/holly-stars-justice-for-holly
