Alex Stringer has an interesting story to tell for her Edinburgh Fringe debut, and a real investment in telling it. This is the background, foreground and general demeanour of her relationship with alcohol. Delivered with a laid back easy connection – ‘Happy Hour’ is about connection, she tells us as she chats disarmingly with the front row – Stringer states from the top that she’s been sober for 8 years. Also that her favourite Scouse woman is Yoko Ono, and how she reckons a merman might chat her up. She’s no cliché in her recovery, and it’s that unique voice that pulls out the punchlines and offers a pleasant landscape of her mind and humour.
It’s a mix of club set pieces on Facebook Marketplace lurkers, Stringer’s disdain for sober influencers, the whole wild swimming brigade, her Mum’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ philosophy that drives her up the wall – and the truth of hitting rock bottom and heading into rehab. She has a disarming perspective with gentle laughter through most of the first three quarters of her show. There is indeed a connection between the audience and performer, as she’d hoped. However by the final run to the end of the show the laughter thins somewhat, as the story of her recovery takes precedence and this dips lightly from comedy into confessional.
There is, of course, a nice juicy release guffaw at the end amid the update reassurance. A reminder of the comedic talent in this rising voice.
Alex Stringer: Happy Hour, 18.00, until August 24
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/alex-stringer-happy-hour
