★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Her wonderful observations, personal tales and sharp wit make for an impressive debut hour.
Another hour, another debut. This year's newcomers are really knocking it out of the park when it comes to delivering great comedy and none more so than the 2017 winner of 'So You Think You're Funny?', Maisie Adam. Part of her prize was a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and she's wasted no time in cashing in her prize returning to the Fringe a year later.
Playing to sell-out audiences in the Wee Room at the Gilded Balloon, Maisie lets her audience know three things. She's from Pannal in West Yorkshire and now lives in Brighton, she's tall and she's epileptic. And it's that final fact which forms the basis of her debut hour Vague.
Somewhat of a coming-of-age story, Maisie discusses being diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy as a young teenager, JME for short. How will she suffer? "Vague episodes" - whatever that means.
Not wishing to make the audience uncomfortable, Maisie feels the need to show the audience what happens when she suffers a seizure. Her eyes roll. Now as a teenager whose eye-rolling is a medical condition, you'd imagine that Maisie has many hilarious anecdotes to tell and you'd be right. My favourite tale, which had me in tears of laughter, is about her exam invigilator.
Maisie's natural ease on stage and ability to connect with the audience makes stand-up comedy look easy. Her wonderful observations, personal tales and sharp wit make for an impressive debut hour. Vague is an hour which is well-structured, very funny and of the calibre you'd expect form someone with more than 18 months of comedy experience.
That's right, it's astonishing to think that it was only 18 months ago that Maisie decided she wanted to become a comedian. And thank god she did! Having now spent an hour in her company, it's safe to say that Maisie was destined to be a comedian.
Maisie has undoubtedly got a very bright future ahead of her and with the 'So You Think You're Funny?' win already under her belt is it time for her to win another award? Best Newcomer perhaps? It's a strong possibility.
Maisie Adam: Vague runs until 27th August at 4:30pm at Gilded Balloon Teviot (Wee Room). Book tickets here.
(This review was based on the performance from Saturday 18th August 2018)