Fresh off her win for Best Comedy at Fringe World Australia, Amy Hetherington brings her high-energy, joyful standup to Edinburgh. Get ready for a side-splitting hour that dives into the chaotic joy, challenges, and hilarity of raising a toddler in Australia’s rugged Northern Territory. From sleepless nights to bizarre parenting tips from strangers, and rediscovering her post-baby sexiness, Hetherington’s stories are both relatable and outrageous.
It’s been a while since my boy was a toddler, and I was keen to see a comedic description of this time period. Hetherington’s account is perfect and took me right back to the absolute joy and total bedlam of those preschool years. Raising kids is a universal experience, but doing it Down Under is distinctly unique, and Hetherington dives right into the quirky reality of living in the Northern Territory (where there are more crocodiles than people) with a series of hilarious newspaper headlines. She then makes a couple of wry comments about Scottish territories, Glasgow and Aberdeen, proving she’s a dab hand at observing cultural nuance.
The body of her show focuses on the loves of her life: her child, Ruby, and her engineering husband, who is so nerdy he is half robot. She excels in mining the mundanity of family life and turning it into comedy gold. Whether she is attempting to gentle parent her uber-energetic kid or masterfully putting down her pious mother-in-law, she does it all with gleeful humour that has her audience howling with laughter.
Her closing comments on the inadequacy and inaccuracy of the term ‘juggling’ when referring to motherhood speak to the depth that underpins her comedic impressions and feel like a perfect ending to a masterful show. Here until Sunday and part of the free, pay-what-you-can Fringe, I strongly advise you to go and see her while she’s still affordable.
Reviewer: Triona Scully
Reviewed: 19th August 2024
North West End UK Rating: