Edinburgh review: Katie Brennan's Quarter-Life Crisis (Underbelly George Square)
"I fucking love a key change," says Katie Brennan, with a massive grin on her face. Not only does she love them, she can deliver on them too. In her very funny new comedy, musical-cabaret mash-up, she and her MD Joseph Atkins sing and play their hearts out.
Quarter Life Crisis is driven by Brennan’s natural charisma. She’s sweet, funny, naughty and filthy all at once. She draws you in with a winning, infectious smile and she can definitely bash out a good tune with impressive force. The show is essentially in the format of ‘An Evening With…’ where Brennan tells us, through general patter and many songs, about tricky moments in her life. They cover moving into a city to seek her fortune and not managing to find a job, and being an exceptionally bad bridesmaid for her friends, who all seem to be getting hitched at once.
The songs are a mix of musical and pop tunes and there are some strong original tracks thrown in. Included is a medley of 29 ‘90s tracks, a hilarious new number called "I’m not Carrie Bradshaw" and "Splatter Song" about Brennan’s various disappointing sexual entanglements. For the musical fans, you’ll recognise riffs on "Something's Coming" from West Side Story and "Somewhere That’s Green" from The Little Shop of Horrors alongside several more.
She's a kind of musical Bridget Jones and her spiel is about what it means to be in your 20s today. As she pulls a G&T can from her bra, Brennan touches, lightly, on her own struggles with depression, how hard it is to break into the industry and just how much her friends mean to her. It’s positively brimming with warmth and humour and, unless you have a heart of stone, it will send you out into the Edinburgh night with a spring in your step and a yearning for a big drink with your best buddies.
Katie Brennan's Quarter-Life Crisis runs at the Underbelly George Square at 10.50pm until 29 August (not 15).
