I had seen Ms. Porter last year (here) so was very much looking forward to seeing her again. And she most certainly did not disappoint.
This was her 11th Edinburgh Fringe and the theme this year was how she goes out of her way to avoid conflict of any kind, especially with her husband and family. There then followed a wonderful and charismatic hour or so of fairly gentle but sharply-observed comedy. The general thrust of the anecdotes was around her family - the good-natured butt of many of the jokes being her husband Justin Edwards and their desperate attempts to avoid any arguments - but the routine started with how she had finally consulted a parenting manual after five or six years of being fairly free and easy (yes, she admitted she is one of those Mums who lets her spawn wander free in coffee shops) as her two children just wouldn't stop fighting. This was the springboard into a whole host of other anecdotes including a great routine about passive-aggressive behaviour and comments, among which was one she received in a yoga-class changing room that was both gasp-inducing and very funny.
Poignant and touching was a tale about her parents and how they would religiously watch Coronation Street three times a week at 7.30PM. Ms. P had lost her Dad a few years ago and had recently asked her Mum to move in with her and her family. I won't spoil the ultimate punchline as it was a belter, but the punchline only became apparent when Ms. Porter relayed the sad news that her Mum had died earlier this year. As I'm somewhat sensitive about dead parent anecdotes, having lost both recently myself, I found this one particularly poignant. The conclusion of the set was Ms. P proudly announcing that she had finally had a row with her husband - yay! - over quite a personal thing. Again, I won't spoil it but it was both funny and emotional.
Her microphone stand was surround with dozens and dozens of packets of crisps. The reason why became apparent through part of the passive-aggressive routine. Basically, many folks on Twitter were having a go at Gary Lineker for expressing political views so Ms. Porter buying a load of Walkers products was her passive-aggressive way of responding without getting dragged into a pointless Twitter exchange.
The whole show was great. Ms. Porter is the consummate professional and a skilled raconteur (raconteuse?) - if you get the opportunity to go and see her you will enjoy the most splendid and pleasant hour or so.
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