We’re welcomed into a dark room to find a figure, dressed as a ghost, in a white sheet, with fairy lights underneath, frantically moving around and using her eye holes to drink water through, which made the audience laugh for the very first time. At the first chance to speak, the ghost tells us that as much as that may be funny, she worked really hard on the show we’re about to see, and that visual gag is just a fluke. Strap on and enjoy.
The show is a collection of stories, where Laura muses over the meaning of life, telling us stories about her life as a bullied teenager, who struggled with her sexuality and appearance. She shares the stories with the audience and encourages the them to share back. The stories sometimes seem to have little point and just trail off into tangents that didn’t succeed in capturing the audience of the sold-out show I saw, including myself, and were met with an almost overwhelming lack of reaction.
The comedian didn’t feel shy to call it out and to mention all the good reviews the show had had…and that’s when, with a third of the show’s time left, she leaves the sheet behind, and manages to get the audience back on her side, myself included. It’s hard work to keep going when the audience doesn’t seem to care about what you’re doing and it’s even harder to manage to get them back to the point of laughing, and that commitment to keeping on track was very impressive.
At the start of the show, the performer justifies being hidden under a sheet as a trick to bring audiences into a solo show by a woman. I much preferred what she managed to do after stripping off the Ikea duvet and making us laugh with a dark, yet uplifting and whimsical view of life.
★★★
Laura Davis: Ghost Machine is at the Underbelly Cowgate at 17:40 until 28th August. For tickets and more information click here!
Our coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe comes to you with the support of Starling Bank, the mobile-only bank that takes your money seriously. Through their campaign #MakeMoneyEqual, Starling is promoting the often difficult conversations about money and giving women a voice.
