By Tony Frame. Venue 313 – Hive 1 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive)

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Jena Friedman’s intro of bursting onto the stage wearing a red MAGA hat and waving the American Flag whilst singing a patriotic song is a great way to get the show started (this really should be the norm for all Americans who come to the Fringe with their stand-up show!). It packs a little punch to the busy room and it sets the tone for what the next hour will entail – an energetic and somewhat zany mish-mash of jokes about Trump and politics before it all moves into more personal topics about motherhood and death.

Most of the jokes worked (which, for me, meant being mostly amused, as opposed to having fits of belly laughs), and some missed their mark (I didn’t know who the people / politicians were that she was talking about), but it moved at a good pace for the most part until it got to the last act (it was mostly about her mother) which is where I felt that the ball was dropped as it lacked the most humour. Had this segment been a little lighter or had a few more comedic interludes (or was perhaps shorter) I feel that the overall show would have been stronger for it.