Review: DULCÉ SLOAN, Soho Theatre

“Now I’m here, seeing what the original whites are up to”

Dulcé Sloan, a former senior correspondent for The Daily Show, is bringing her stand-up show to London at the Soho Theatre. Unlike most comedy shows at the venue, there really is no description for her show on the site, giving it a bit of an air of mystery as audience members head downstairs to the venue’s basement theatre.

After an entrance to cheers and applause, Sloan gets on stage and begins greeting audience members, but with a twist - anyone who’s white is ignored, except for one person who gets a greeting for being Jewish after Sloan mistakes them for being a person of colour. This then leads into a bit about how there is tension between black Brits and Americans, which Sloan believes has to do with how black Americans aren’t able to trace their heritage because of the slave trade that brought their families to the United States. 

But now Sloan is in London with the “original whites” and can tell why they live in the UK, going on about how cold it is and how the first people who moved to Europe became white, their lips and bums shrinking from the cold - As Sloan proclaims, lips “can’t be chapped if they don’t exist!” This discussion also leads into one of the best - and surprisingly most poetic - lines from the night, “How can you be superior if you can’t stand in the sun?” 

As one might expect from an American comedian in London, there are plenty of jokes comparing the UK to the US, with Sloan focusing on how unafraid of knives she is in the city - something that is relatable for anyone who’s lived in New York and moved to London. She also is not a fan of the beaches, arguing that what many consider to be “pebbles” are “rocks” and “boulders” that are much worse than the sandy beaches in the States. 

Another highlight of the show is how Sloan presents her family, as she lives with her mum, brother, cat and dog - you can tell who’s the favourite of the four after only a few minutes. Sloan goes on a tangent about her hatred of dogs, particularly the one in her home, who is a German Shepherd, a breed she refers to as a “cop dog.” I enjoyed hearing about Sloan’s relationship with her mother, including the strange phrase of not wanting to be found dead wearing dirty drawers.

When talking about her mum and brother, Sloan has some truly wild stories to back up her claim that “I do this for a living and I’m the sanest one in the family.” I particularly enjoyed her reenactments of some of their arguments, including an argument at four in the morning over the existence of Bigfoot and a fight over pork tacos being made in a Kosher pan.

Dulcé Sloan is presenting a solid show of New York-style stand-up comedy, bringing together a range of topics surrounding her life in a show that may not have a strong narrative but is hilarious. I hope to see more of Sloan and her comedy in the UK soon!

Dulcé Sloan performs until 22 March at Soho Theatre.

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