Review: EDINBURGH 2024: CATHERINE COHEN: COME FOR ME, Pleasance Courtyard

“I gotta fill the void”

Catherine Cohen: Come For Me is self-described as a “openly glamorous, decidedly horny comedy cabaret,” and that is certainly accurate! Cohen also compares her show to Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, an immersive theatrical experience, and she’s not wrong. Throughout the show, Cohen is calling out members of the audience, particularly those with their arms crossed, saying “Uncross your arms” in order to open yourself to the universe and staring until the offending audience member’s arms are uncrossed. 

It is refreshing to see a comedian who is openly confident, strutting around the stage and acknowledging her place above the audience, being unafraid to call people out for not cheering loudly enough, saying, “You’re embarrassing yourself and your families.” Her physicality and facial expressions are insanely well done, taking her comedy to the next level. There are quite a few moments in which, if done by any other comedian, the jokes would not have landed, like when Cohen spends time reading some of her poems in a serious manner and then moving onto the next bit without any acknowledgement. 

One of the highlights of the show is the songs that Cohen sings, with one having unhinged lyrics like “Thank God for astrology / There is literally nothing wrong with me” and another being about getting hit by a bus. She also has a tendency to call out the bridges in her songs, which for any other comedian might be cheesy, but Cohen plays it off in a brilliant way that makes perfect sense for her onstage persona. Cohen is joined by Frazer Hadfield on the keyboard, accompanying her songs and being told to stop staring at her because she has a partner, one of the many great running gags through the show. 

Along with the songs, Cohen has some absolutely fantastic jokes that come at a rapidfire pace. I particularly loved her bit comparing God, crystals and Republicans, proof that, as she claims the show is “highbrow.” There is another brilliant joke in which Cohen compares going down on a woman for the first time to putting eyeliner on someone else, which got some of the biggest laughs of the night. It’s all, as Cohen puts it, “very ‘je ne sais quoi.’”

Finally, Cohen ends the show with a song about how important it is to “do it for the memoir,” a surprisingly motivational song even with its hilarious lyrics. Even now, I still find myself humming the song as it was so incredibly catchy!

Catherine Cohen: Come For Me is a unique and delightful hour of musical comedy from an incredible performer who has the audience on her side from the second she steps on stage. If you have a chancee, “do it for the memoir” and go see Cohen perform!

Catherine Cohen: Come For Me ran until 25 August at Pleasance Courtyard - Forth.