★★★★☆

Review by Natalia Milne. Venue 33 Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Above (check times)

Sophie Duker is a rising star having most recently being crowned the winner of the latest series of Channel 4’s Taskmaster. The theme of the show is finding and becoming the person you are supposed to be. Sophie describes the ‘big dick energy’ of her grandmother. A person who had a huge influence on shaping her. She is not cuddly or sweet in the stereotypical ways that grannies are often portrayed. She was a force of nature. It would be easy to point to these characteristics in a negative way, but Sophie does it with pure love and celebration. As women, we do not have to be nice, in fact, life is so much more fun when we are not!

Sophie then talks about being sent to Ghana when she was four as the cost of living was cheaper over there. She uses this as an opportunity to make jabs at the middle-class nature of the fringe,  and how unrelatable her experiences were to the (mostly white) audience.

One of the standout moments was the description of her experiences on a lesbian cruise. A pivotal moment in her life that was part of her pansexual awakening. She jokes that her fashion sense was aware of her sexuality even before she was as she stomps the stage in Lidl socks and a pair of Doc Martens.

Another hilarious moment comes from her description of retelling her Grandmother’s favourite knock-knock joke, and one thing that has certainly stuck with me in the days since seeing this show is Sophie’s way of categorising all women. Her theory is that everyone falls in to one of four categories. For the record I think I am Peter Pan. I have also put some thought into categorising my friends and family as well!

There’s also a couple of brilliant moments of audience interaction which Sophie handled masterfully. There’s so many topics covered in her show which could be described as chaotic, but in the best possible way! It’s a must-see for the Fringe. It’s a journey of her self-acceptance and self-actualisation. Magic is not real she tells us in her signature rumble. Well, she certainly put a spell on the audience.