Rachel Parris is one of today’s most talented and versatile comedy performers mixing up her brand of gently dark and self-deprecating humour with her sparkling musical ability to create a roster of original acid sharp songs peppered by some stand up and character comedy. She has risen to recognition with appearances in Austentatious, The IT Crowd, Murder in Successville and more recently The Mash Report.
Rachel has been called upon to speak at her old school and needs inspiration to prepare the ‘Keynote’ of the show’s title. She asks the audience for the kind of advice you would give your younger self– a trend for audience immersion that appears throughout the festival – and they rise to the challenge of crafting a few punchlines of their own. This guarantees a different set of laughs at each show, keeps the content fresh and Rachel on her toes. These notes are then picked randomly throughout and compiled into an improvised song by way of a finale. Very clever.
I know that Rachel was suffering from Fringe flu on the day I saw her but this didn’t detract from her professionalism and ability to switch from being herself, to a character and back into song. She is developing a broad repertoire that involves her skills as an accomplished improviser as well as a comedy writer and performer. Her complex lyrics and clever arrangements pay tribute to the musical comedy legacy left by the late great Victoria Wood.
This is great musical talent delivering some hard-hitting comedy. Rachel deserves her sell out success.
★★★★★
Rachel Parris: Keynote is at the Pleasance Dome at 20:20 until 28th August. For tickets and more information click here!
