Chloe Petts has a fondness for Big Naturals, she shares. That’s simply where the show title came from, enjoyment of both the phrase (she wants to bring it back) and the soft front bits. And it’s an excellent jumping off point to explore the Lad Culture of the 90s and early 00s of her formative years and any toxic aftertaste that may have been left behind. From her eight-year-old self’s discovery of Page 3 – a notion so outdated now she has a great bit and fresh lesbian perspective to explain her delight at the red-top tradition – to emotional stunting and keeping the ‘big feelings’ down to explode in the appropriate location of the football.
There’s a laid back autobiography here, mixed in with a certain amount of reflecting upon her choices and motivations that both appeals and connects. Petts’ colourful similes and playful asides paint clear pictures fondly of her mosh pit enabling mother and ever-zen golf playing Dad. And when she explores her own relationship patterns and romantic types she’s generously expansive, with ‘tales from the war’ prompting an especially good comedic yield. There is some gentle man-baiting, but it is all in good jest – like the teasing of her brother or mate.
Petts could turn the proverbial phone book into a fun set, so good is her writing and eye for a phrase, but instead she continues to gently explore her own back psyche. She is good at expressing her ‘big feelings’, and for that we are grateful.
Chloe Petts: Big Naturals
Forth at Pleasance Courtyard, 19.00, 3-24 August (except 13th)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/chloe-petts-big-naturals
