Show: 'Bastard Legs & Other Shows I Haven't Written'
Venue: Etcetera Theatre, Camden
Date: 26/11/2012
Having missed Leisa Rea's 'Bastard Legs' at the Camden Fringe in August (a small festival in Scotland seemed to get in the way), I was excited to see that she would be getting them out again for one night only at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden.
Sat at a desk piled high with notebooks, Rea introduced herself and immediately engaged the audience with her unpretentious charm and some 'medication'. She delivered a warning that the show would lack structure due to her Attention Deficit Disorder. The 'medication' was to help ease the pain of her erratic comedy brainstorm.
Rea explained that her ADD has meant she's lacked concentration to flesh out one idea for a concise show. Therefore, we were treated to many little segments of her whimsical musings. Topics covered ranged from bizarre ideas for TV shows to fictional maths teachers and Hitchcock films to Twitter imbeciles. The sheer amount of unrestrained material in one show makes you believe that the stack of notebooks on the desk are filled with genius comedy jottings and ideas.
Despite giving the impression that the show was all over the place, it was clear that Rea had mastered her material and delivered every gag with humble confidence. Rea is a natural comic and a high energy performer; this, combined with the plethora of material, resulted in a very enjoyable comedy whirlwind.
Leisa Rea is personable and has an innate ability to make the audience feel at ease. At times it felt like we had all popped round a friends for pizza and beer. In fact, the pizza arrived about 40 minutes into the show. What a spoilt audience we were!
I'm hoping that Leisa's Bastard Legs make another appearance soon or that she manages to sit still long enough to write a new show. In the meantime, follow her on Twitter, @leisarea, for regular witty wisecracks.
Hannah Moulder
@hannahmoulder
