Maia Tassalini’s debut Fringe show is a mile-a-minute, pink and sparkle infested, joyous hour. Coquettishly self aware, Tassalini’s stand up style mixes the high-speed energy of a chronically-online gen z, with the confident air of a glamorous older sister, an identity we are told was formed being raised at the kids table of gay weddings every weekend.
You can tell Tassalini is naturally funny immediately in her very strong off the cuff crowd work, an area where her comic voice really shines. We’re kicked off with Tassalini inviting two men in the front row to compete in a best dressed competition (spoiler: they’re playing for second), and later, in an interaction with an audience member in a propellor hat and another named Loveday. Tassalini is quick, skillfully controlling the room in these moments.
The show is loosely based around Tassalini’s obsession with Monica Lewinski, all starting age twelve, from the moment she’s told she resembles her by a drag queen at a gay wedding. Since this diagnosis, Tassalini becomes fixated on Lewinski, a fellow ‘stunning brunette’, ‘the Daisy to her Gatsby’, fascinated with how the scandal impacted her life. Tassalini describes waiting for a similarly life-defining moment, wondering how and when she will be thrust into the spotlight.
Tassalini undeniably belongs on stage, and ever self aware, admits that she doesn’t identitfy as a ‘proper’ adult, quickly qualifying that we are generally all either mortgage concerned ‘proper’ adults or ‘funny and interesting’ ones – which gets a long laugh from the room. Although it’s clear she belongs on stage, Tassalini admits her adolescent forays into drama never quite hit the spot, always being cast as the ‘King Herod character’ instead of the ‘Violas from Twelfth Night’. There is some great material on the cruelty of growing up in the noughties, the experience of being a 13 year old teenage girl, and the horrors of the Wii Fit ‘chopping board’. The stylistic way Tassalini punctuates her jokes with high voices and asides is masterful, not only in their being inherently hilarious, but in showing a confidence and control over the set that is often only reserved for the seasoned pros.
You can catch I Was 22 and Stunning every day until Sunday 30th August @ 6:00 PM at Bunker Three at The Pleasance Courtyard. Tickets here.
