As a person who enjoys comedy, I don’t particularly enjoy the musical kind. It’s so often used solely as a gimmick and doesn’t increase the value of the pieces is it used in. When I went into the room at the Underbelly where 2016 Funny Women Awards Tamar Broadbent had her show and saw keyboards and two mics on stage I was worried.
Not long into the show, my worries had subsided. Tamar is a friendly, welcoming person with a witty nature and relatable sense of humour. She commands the stage and wasn’t at all shaken when her new tech made a few mistakes during the show. Tamar asked the tech to correct the mistakes and just kept going.
Tamar’s show is about how different our world is from that our grandparents grew up in, and how our values tend to be different. She has small recordings of her 92-year-old grandmother and her thoughts played during the show, and they’re just wonderful. It’s also clear the comedian knows how many privileges our generation has and how our struggles are quite small for the most part.
From time to time the performer jumps to the keyboard and starts singing or sings over recorded music. At some point, Tamar says she would like to be a pop star and she has the voice for it. She also has perfect comedic timing and uses it and a very expressive face and body language to get the laughs during her songs.
Tamar Broadbent: Best Life was a really enjoyable experience despite the horribly hot and humid room.
★★★
Tamar Broadbent: Best Life is at is at Underbelly, Cowgate at 14:20 until 26th August. For tickets and more information click here!
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