Maybe EastEnders got it right. When the soap opera restarted after lockdown, Covid was hardly ever mentioned; no one wore a mask and the Queen Vic was always open. It was reassuring not to see reality on TV. Stand-up comedy is not so dismissive of real life, and in her new show Irish comedian Catherine Bohart continues to pick at those lockdown scabs. However, jokes about Zoom and breaking Government restrictions are just too familiar now.
One of the worst calamities of lockdown – but not the worst, she’s clear to point out – was splitting up with fellow comedian Sarah Keyworth. They hosted a BBC podcast together called You’ll Do. But Bohart didn’t do, and Keyworth dumped her. A sad tale for sure, but comedy gold runs like a coal vein in the discussion of break-ups and Bohart mines hers for all she’s worth. It’s often very funny.
But she’s never bitter and This Isn’t For You is full of shafts of sunlight despite the fact that her OCD got worse during lockdown. She hardy mentions her condition at all; that belongs in her previous show, she quips. Instead the focus is on her relationship, but she also gently roasts some of the audience members and this is where Bohart’s quick and affable wit shines.
One woman proudly tells Bohart that she dumped her boyfriend of five months during lockdown and even gave him feedback once the relationship was over. Bohart has great fun with this, and with the couple who raise their hands when the crowd is asked who is in a long-term relationship. ‘How long have you been together’ she asks the pair. ‘Three days,’ they reply! There’s never a risk that these contributions from the audience will divert her from her set; indeed, they appear to keep her on track.
But the conversation about lockdown – and inevitably there’s talk of Zoom therapy sessions too – does run its course and so it comes as a breath of fresh air when Bohart relates her trip back home to see her parents back in Dublin. Jokes about the martyrdom of Irish mothers may not be original, but Bohart makes them newly funny when she throws her bisexuality into the mix.
As the hour set comes to its close, a late energy arrives with gags about sex and dildoes, and it’s a great place to finish. Interestingly, Bohart’s queerness is incidental to her routine rather than its focus and her experiences resonate with the many heterosexual couples in the crowd. Indeed, despite the show’s title, her comedy is for you.
Runs until 12 March 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
It is for you
