Caroline Rhea

Gilded Balloon
5 – 25 August, 21.30

As I was resizing the picture of Rhea to fit in the picture space, which sits alongside the review, I was reminded of the very funny story she tells about her encounter with a less than tactful assistant in John Lewis when trying on a dress.

Ample of bosom (oft-referred to) and talent, Canadian Caroline Rhea, covers mostly familiar territory but does it in a free-wheeling, inventive and frequently hilarious fashion. She makes a number of local references and has a good take on the Scottish and British psyche, which is much funnier, honest and less patronising than the norm.

I could have done without her picking on a hapless audience member. For he was me. And for the record Caroline, I am not slow, I just didn’t realise you were looking at me! (ps, thanks for the CD but it doesn’t make up for the slight humiliation I feel).

As well as being a stand-up, she is of course an actress (Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Curb Your Enthusiasm), which means her observational skills and accents are spot-on and her delivery confident. Sometimes, her diversions don’t quite come to anything, but there is some brilliant  material and she is enormously likeable and entertaining.