Candace Bryan is looking for a M.I.L.F. A very specific M.I.L.F. “A Mother I’d Like to Find. In her stand-up comedy show, Candace shows some emotion (much to her dismay) and tells her story of finding her biological mum, who abandoned her as a baby. Raised with just her single dad left her with a few issues, like attachment issues, mummy issues, or in her accent, mommy issues, and a hilarious personality… Oh well, what can you do!
Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Candace has moved away from the US, claiming it’s “toxic” and that, like an ex, every time she checks up on them, it’s somehow worse. As Candace makes similar jokes to this, her main story runs in the background: her mother getting in contact over 30 years later via Instagram. This experience ultimately doesn’t go very well. But Candace does confirm her mum is not poor or on drugs.
Candace says that she’s come to terms with her mother’s disappearance and accepts that she was left with issues from the abandonment, but forgives her mother. One reason is that it’s not very common for a mother to walk out, Go Feminism! But Candace addresses the serious reasons for child abandonment in the late capitalist era that we are currently in. Candace recognises the hardship single parents all go through, whilst getting no economic support from a patriarchal system set up for them to fail. She also mentions that a solution like abortion wasn’t an option then for her mother, and once again, it is horrifically not one now.
Candace has some great elaborate jokes up her sleeve, but mainly some cracking one-liners. She also has a tone of protest in her show that is worthy of a larger platform.
Candace Bryan: MILF (Mom I’d Like to Find) 15.10, Just the Tonic Nucleus, until August 24
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/candace-bryan-milf-mom-i-d-like-to-find