Show 32: Alice Cockayne: Attention Needed

Another show that caught my eye in the programme being billed as an absurdist piece, I've realised of late I've been drawn to the more absurdist shows, things to take you away from reality and to dazzle in rich, bewildering creations of the great comics, I've found such shows in the parts to be really inspirational.

This was not such a show.

Cockayne's character sketch does venture into the absurd for sure, but there really aren't any smart ideas or even good punchlines.

There's audience participation a plenty in this show. An opening sketch about finding a partner, going to bed and confronting an intruder by speaking in tongues is at most mildly bemusing (I was the plucky partner though Cockayne seemingly didn't fancy my banter - a moment where her electric toothbrush is flailed wildly underneath a bedsheet as we're both in bed led to me apologising for the coke I took, she retorted that her parents were at home, prompting me to ask her where she think I got it from; she quickly asked me to stop talking). Another skit involving a dysfunctional dog sitting agency was altogether tedious, even tragic, though I suspect unintentionally so. Indeed the laughter bleeding through from Ewin's excellent show next door was palpable throughout. I'm quite glad I didn't catch the 110% John Kearns and Pat Cahill show where she featured later in the festival.

Score: 1/10
Venue: Just the Tonic at The Caves, Just the Upstairs
Dates: 28th August
Time: 22:25
Price: £7