This is the second famous person I’ve come to review at the Fringe, the first being Jennifer Coolridge and now Aunt Hilda from that iconic TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and much more besides. I have to admit I had not really seen her in much and I had not seen her do stand up so I was thinking this might be a little hit and miss.
Rhea’s husband and father of her new baby opened up for her. This really came out the blue and seemed a little strange. He had a few good jokes and the audience did start to warm to him though his act was very New York in it’s feel and his delivery. The revelation that he was Caroline’s husband and the gig got a big laugh.
Rhea came onto the stage like a mini explosion she was both manic and measured giving a slight insight into how the show would go, I guess it was here I saw why Mike opened up for her. Her Scottish accent was spot on and her show would take in fruit, sexuality, her relationships, her new daughter, and language which would become an overall theme of her show.
One of the surprising aspects of her show was the level of research she did on the countries she was gigging in. Most acts, no matter who they are, forget the name of the place they are in let alone be able to incorporate a lot of local stuff into their act. From TV, sales assistance around the world, and the tattoo, Rhea is a master storyteller in that she keeps her stories simple and easy but creative and insane, these are not just jokes, they are carefully crafted mini reality stories that Caroline delivers with a skill that is hard to ignore.
Her show has a few distinctions that does genuinely make it stand out. The first being a fearless attitude towards the audience and the attacks came heavy and long (poor Marco) yet very few US, though Rhea is Canadian, can get the balance right in attacking a UK audience. One thing we are is very open to attack and not only the British but Scottish people got a heavy dose of what we love and she handled it perfectly. This balance was important and think it added a great feel to the evening.
Unlike UK acts Rhea was quick to point out when the audience groaned at something which was another aspect of her show I really liked. There was a bald guy in the audience and she mentioned it, at which the audience groaned slightly in which she said ‘I think he knew he was bald when he walked in’. The difference between men and women, relationships, and when men stop talking had the Scottish women behind and in front of me almost on the floor laughing, this was wonderfully delivered.
Caroline Rhea probably stunned and impressed a lot of that crowd who thought they where just going to get some celebrity stories and what it’s like to be a celebrity. This is usually what bad comics when they don’t have decent material, for Caroline she had more material than the hour show would allow and she managed to slip in a few Hollywood insights along the way but she didn’t let this punctuate her whole show.
Her Sound of Music bit I could watch till I was blue in the face. Though this was a 16+ show she remained very respectful (sans the odd F-word) and didn’t bitch about celebrities she’s worked with and yet her 1st Class adventure was another hight point of her show.
‘This show was really impressing and I wanted more but such is the timing at the fringe Rhea was almost kicked off stage as the other show was about to come in. That aside she could have continued for another 20 or 40 minutes and it would have still remained fresh and funny. This show came of of left field and was one of the best things I’ve seen, Caroline Rhea should be seen, loved, laughed with, and crowned. Whatever you think this show is going to be lick, forget it, erase it from your mind, and sit back and get ready to be stunned!’
