I’m Not Being Funny – Bush Theatre, London

Writer: Piers Black

Director: Bryony Shanahan

I’m Not Being Funny presents an evening in the life of two young parents, 24 hours before they are due to deliver five minutes of stand-up for the very first time. Peter (Jerome Yates) loves puns. Billie (Tia Bannon) wants the set to be gritty. Neither of them knows how to write comedy. Yates and Bannon inhabit the roles completely and create a domestic life that is instantly believable. They are the sort of couple that just makes sense. Constantly navigating their differences, each has a relentless desire to make it work. They have a three-year-old daughter, everyday jobs, a rich history, and one big unspoken thing looming over their future.

As a conceit, I’m Not Being Funny’s upcoming stand-up commitment functions well for the impetus of the piece. It stalks the script just enough to create pressure, but not so immediately that they are unable to repair the little breakdowns in their connections. The bigger problem, the unspoken one, stalks the characters more intensely as the play goes on.

Peter says that the big looming thing makes their lives feel like a pendulum. It’s a motif that appears to be mirrored in the emotional effect of I’m Not Being Funny as a whole. Tonally, then, Piers Black’s script achieves the lows magnificently, bringing most of the audience to tears at some point when the pendulum swings in that direction. But when it tries to swing the other way, it never quite reaches the zenith of laughter that it could and probably should. The script is so true to the characters that they are never capable of writing punchlines that bring unfettered joy to the room.

Bryony Shanahan’s direction creates depth and levels in what could otherwise be a static domestic play and does so in a way that is almost so natural it’s unnoticeable. Yates and Bannon, in a space where most audience members are within arm’s reach of them, react in subtle ways more at home in a cinematic close-up than on a stage. They listen intently, even in the silences, tenderly responding to the trickles of Asaf Zohar’s soundscapes.

Towards the end of I’m Not Being Funny, the crux of the conflict between Billie and Peter is rapidly interspersed with key moments from their relationship, separated by blackouts. It is thoroughly cinematic in nature and a welcome variation in pace. Supported by Lucía Sánchez Roldán’s diverse and delightful lighting design, the emotional force of this sequence is instantly tear-inducing.

Black’s script is very strong at the interpersonal level, with Billie and Peter’s rifts and repairs always well-earned. But in its broader formal and thematic elements, it misses an opportunity to stretch even further. Ultimately, I’m Not Being Funny is close to excellence and shows off some top-drawer talent in every role.

Runs until 13 June 2026