Will she make you laugh? That’s the question, isn’t it?
But before we get to that, let’s acknowledge that there has been a certain sniffy media response to the news that Mhairi Black, formerly the deputy leader of the SNP at Westminster, was performing at this year’s Fringe. Such a fall from grace seemed to be the unspoken take on this turn of events. No, actually, sometimes it has been said plainly.
And yet Black announced she was stepping down as an MP last year, saying Westminster was one of “the most unhealthy workplaces that you could ever be in.” So, she had been readying herself for her “conscious uncoupling” from parliament long before the recent election.
We can debate which role – MP or entertainer – is the more socially useful at another juncture, but the important thing to acknowledge about Politics Is Not For Me is that it is not a self-indulgent vanity exercise.
In truth it is a coherent, well crafted hour that brings out the best in Black – that cheeky, rambunctious mouthiness that marked her out when she was first elected in 2015.
And, yes, to answer the question at the top of the page, she’s often very funny, though the humour may hit home more if you share Black’s politics. (To be fair that certainly seemed to be the case for most of the audience when I attended.)
It’s not really stand-up, though. It’s more a Ted Talk, or as Black would have it, a “Ned Talk.” The aim is twofold; to explain, contextualise and even, on occasion, apologise for her own actions during her parliamentary career. She does this with a self-deprecating flair that never seeks pity (she is very matter of fact about her diagnosis of ADHD).
But more than that, and this is the real meat of the show, she wants to argue that the House of Commons is a dysfunctional institution that is possibly in the same parlous state as the building it takes place in.
To that end she talks about speaking at Eton, sharing sweeties with the DUP and has a couple of pops at Jacob Rees-Mogg (which is, frankly, quite restrained of her, I’d say).
And, yes, there is a measure of revenge going on here. But she is as ready to put the boot in to some of her own former colleagues in the SNP as she is to the Tories and Labour MPs. In fact, a couple of SNP big beasts apart, the latter are the ones she displays the most animus towards. And maybe with good reason as she explains at the show’s conclusion.
At 29, Black is currently working out what she is going to do with the rest of her life. In the meantime, this seems as good a way as any to spend her summer. You might think so too, whatever your politics.
Mhairi Black: Politics Is Not For Me, 13:15,Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 1.15pm, until August 25 (except August 12 & 13)
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/mhairi-black-politics-isn-t-for-me
