Adele Cliff is quite rare, in that she is a woman comedian who does puns and one-liners. This is not to say that women comedian don’t write jokes, but Adele has a talent for writing in a pure joke form. Why there aren’t more women punners out there (the only other one who springs to mind is Sam Baines) I don’t know but currently, it seems to still be seen as traditionally a more male art form. Either way, her chosen comic style is serving Adele well as she frequently pops up on various Best of the Fringe joke lists.
However, Sheep is not simply a show in which the stand-up reels off a list of gags and puns. For her debut hour Adele has beautifully curated her one-liners in order to talk about growing up and struggling to make friends. She opens by asking her audience if they have ever been compared to an animal, then riffs on the spot about any animal an audience member offers her. At secondary school Adele found out her friends had compared her to a sheep, understandably this upset the competitive comic.
The eldest of three girls, Adele has always been the enthusiastic trailblazer in her family, introducing her sisters to all kinds of hobbies through her enthusiastic club-joining in a bid to make friends. It’s interesting that Adele’s comedy technique should borrow from the one-liner comics of old as her method for seeking out friendship strikes me as endearingly old-fashioned and naive. Although you can’t fault the child Adele’s logic, surely the more interests you have, the more people you will share an interest with… turns out no.
In fact it is only at the end of her show, sharing an anecdote about an incident with a sheep and her sister (not as NSFW as I’ve made that sound) that Adele really creates the chemistry you need to kickstart a relationship, revealing a sound effect she had wanted to include to end on. It simultaneously gives insight into her interests, creates a vulnerability and is when Adele is at her most relatable.
A lot of love and work has gone into this debut and I can’t wait to see where Adele goes from here, because one this is clear, this comic is no sheep.
★★★1/2
Adele Cliff: Sheep is at Just the Tonic, The Caves at 16:10 until 26th August. For tickets and more information click here!
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