EDINBURGH 2019: Review: LONDON HUGHES: TO CATCH A D*CK, Pleasance Courtyard

MORE. OF. THIS. PLEASE.

The human equivalent of three shots of tequila bursts into the room on a rainy Edinburgh night announcing "I'M MOIST! THIS WEATHER IS F***ING BIBLICAL!". London Hughes has arrived.

Hughes's energy makes this hour of comedy pass in the blink of an eye, with potentially a few cases of Extreme Audience Participation. Men, beware - she may pick on you, but go anyway. You'll love it. This comedian is bringing public humiliation into fashion: seeing a man obligated to come up with a new hand gesture to mimic oral sex is a thing of beauty. Yes, of course it's uncomfortable for everyone involved! But whilst your toes are curling, you'll also be bent double with tears streaming down your face.

Hughes's show is structured around her sexual history (and that of her mother. And grandmother...). Shows around the sexual politics of women are, gloriously, becoming more mainstream on the comedy scene, and London's approach is not to explicitly philosophise about a woman's place in society, but just to exude confidence from her every pore.

For example, she explains the downright inconvenience of a date with an investment banker that ended in anaphylaxis. If London was an insect (bear with me), she'd be a one of those praying mantis creatures that bites the head off her lover after sex. "I'm too much!" she jokes.

Never.

This is filthy, unpredictable comedy of the highest skill. I would bet the £417 in my savings account and my cat that I could take my extremely conservative grandmother to see Hughes, who may or may not call her a 'ho', and she would love it.

London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck is at the Pleasance Courtyard until 25 August

Photo by Karla Gowlett

To post a comment, you must register and login.