‘So what exactly does a “promoter” do’ I ask the guy standing next to me in the queue. Clearly not having come up with any rehearsed answer, he seems unsure. ‘I work for ABC. I suppose I search for talent at the Fringe for U.S television.’ ‘Sounds like a pretty decent job’ I suggest. ‘Yeah, maybe’ he shrugs ‘it gets a bit wearing after five years though.’
Not surprisingly landing a job like this, for a guy not passed 30 involved an Ivy League University. Sarah Millican is not the sort of comedian who you’d imagine sitting well with graduates from Yale or Harvard. Her show, broadly about women, rehearses the familiar clichés of the fairer sex not being able to park a car, liking clothes, shopping and being pampered. Conversely men like rolling in mud, can ‘fix things’ and urinate standing up.
Yet, while Millican initially plays safe with her humour, she quickly gets into full swing. Her playful banter, quick witted responses and natural interaction with the audience make it clear she is a natural comedian.
It also becomes apparent that beneath the veneer of a sweet Tyneside lass Millican, like the men, isn’t averse to rolling about in the verbal mud. Much of her material is filthy, and she probes the audience and exposes her feelings about farting, pornography and men who can ‘block the toilet.
It’s difficult not to laugh along with a comedian who seems completely at home on stage telling jokes and laughing along with the audience, Ivy League education or not.
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