FIRST AND foremost, this is an absolute belter of a show from a woman that simply has funny bones.
But before we get into all of that, let me just say that I am all too aware that my name is very 70s. Put it this way, I was in a composite P3/4 class with four other Alans and it was the 11th most popular name in 1970, the year of my birth.
But in the last 30 years us Alans as a species have become increasingly endangered with very few bambino Aldo’s being added to the tribe.
So to hear Hannah have a pop at someone because their kid is called Alan felt a bit below the best – “Stop giving kids old people’s names!”
Right, that’s a star off for a start, lady. I don’t care if you won the first series of The Traitors and have actually been in the presence of the blessed Winkie Claudieman.
As a former care worker who worked in palliative care, Hannah was surrounded by death and so there is a dark theme to this show, from funeral faux pas to death and getting older.
But this is just a clever framework upon which Hannah can hang her comedy, and she’s bloody good at it.
I don’t want to revisit the age thing again but she strikes me as an old-school comedian, just a funny, funny lady who is having just as much fun as her audience.
And let me tell you, her audience was lapping this up.
She might not take this as the compliment it is meant to be but she reminded me of the likes of Les Dawson, particularly when she embarked upon a section that was basically “my mother is so thick”.
Will it get me into Pseuds’ Corner if I say that this struck me as a post-modern – and bloody hilarious – take on Mr Dawson’s “I’m not saying my mother-in-law is fat but…” schtick?
In sharp contrast to my – to Hannah, apparently – geriatric Victor Meldrew presence a lot of the almost capacity crowd were young women, many of whom were tempted along as avid listeners to her spooky and funny Ghost Huns podcast.
That bodes well for the future and I urge you to go and see this Fringe comedy debut as I’m sure we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Hannah in years to come, and tickets will only get harder to come by.
Hannah Byczkowski::Killer, 17.10, Gilded Balloon Teviot – Turret from August 5-30 (not 18).
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hannah-byczkowski-killer
