It has widely been reported that comedy is tragedy plus time. Susie McCabe shows that comedy is actually a poetic cadence that weaves through storytelling, peppering well-crafted punchlines liberally and with a laid back confidence she has truly earned. As well as a kick-ass scary story to fill the meat of her content. Make no mistake though, it is the way that she tells this tale that conjures the magic.
McCabe’s world is vivid and colourful and accessible in its everywoman perspective. In her steady and easy-to-trust manner, she rages at hotel toasters, grumbles about old family dynamics, and turns menopausal flashes into a war-time asset with equal flare and fresh consideration. There’s a warm truth shot through the middle of it all, carefully managed so as to be able to trust the laughter is welcome when her subject turns more perilous and into the blow by blow of her ‘health scare’ last year.
‘Best Behaviour’ is fundamentally about what led up to, happened during, and happened after a physical event that shook McCabe. It’s reflective of – and on – her own lifestyle, proud Scottish habits, relationships with her family, wife, and the wider world. It’s so beautifully paced and written, a very Scottish vernacular that doesn’t pander to popular transatlantic patterns but instead beckons us in with open laughter and honesty.
Susie McCabe: Best Behaviour, 21:00, Gordon Aikman Theatre at Assembly George Square, 30 July-24 August (except 12th)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/susie-mccabe-best-behaviour
