A charming debut. Thanyia is a comedian with a wicked sense of humour who is overspilling with personality.
★ ★ ★ ★
Some comedians are just naturally funny, which is lucky for Thanyia Moore because she's named her debut hour at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just Being Funny. And that's exactly what she does.
There was a time when just being funny at the Fringe was met with criticism. Where was the message? Where was the emotion? Thankfully, there's a growing shift this year for comedy shows that - yep, are actually funny. And it's a welcome change.
After all, laughter is an emotion and the message I took away from Thanyia's charming debut is that she's a comedian with a wicked sense of humour who is overspilling with personality. There are no awkward silences with Thanyia, no moments where you feel she isn't in control. The room adores her.
Even without any material, I'm certain that Thanyia can get a room laughing. There's nothing spectacular about Thanyia's set-up in the Monkey Barrel, and neither does it need to be. It's stripped back, intimate everyone's having a great time. But there is a sweetie globe.
Her show does what a debut show should and that's introduce us to who Thanyia Moore is. She's now a comedian, but was once a dancer in renowned dance group Plague and recently skydived for entertainment. She has achieved all this having grown up in New Cross, a place she tells us is often referred to as the ghetto.
We also get to know Thanyia's family, her father, her brother, her sister and the inevitable star of the show, her mother Joyce who I'm dying to meet!
But who is Thanyia Moore? Well, that's a question she asks towards the end of her show and it's heartwarming to hear the responses. I'm not Thanyia Moore, but even I felt good inside hearing people saying nice things. Kindness is still a thing people.
Of course, Thanyia is destined for greatness, so in a few years' time when she's inevitably a household name, the question will be "You DON'T know who Thanyia Moore is?! Where have you been?"
With her debut out of the way, it's what Thanyia does next that I'm most excited about. If doors don't open for her in the industry, I'll be shocked. If you want someone reliably funny, book Thanyia.