Writers: Oriel Evans and Rosie Pike
The seemingly unstoppable rise of the online misogyny movement, of which Andrew Tate is perhaps the most well-known proponent, is one of the more depressing aspects of today’s internet. Such individuals’ power comes from being taken seriously – so an effective counterpoint is to laugh at them instead.
That seems to be the premise beholden by Oriel Evans and Rosie Pike’s Is She For Real?, a short sketch show that we are warned at the start contains “themes of misogyny, misandry, and Andrew Tate”. This version of Tate is a worm – quite literally, a wormlike glove puppet that mouths prerecorded segments, slightly sped up, of misogynistic attitudes about how a man who “lets” his girlfriend work, or socialise with her friends, or have friends, is just asking for trouble.
Taken in short bursts such statements – stated seriously, but laughable in their detachment from reality – are easy to ridicule, especially in an audience already primed to appreciate some feminist comedy. It is a shame, then, that the scenes between such statements don’t match them for comedic value.
Evans and Pike’s sketches dig at stereotypical tropes through the ages, starting with a Victorian father berating his son for choosing a boring potential wife – what use was a woman for, if not to run the household and be a sparkling conversationalist at dinner?
We also get a series of sketches with two businesswomen, and a comedic take on two flatmates discussing how to deal with an unwelcome stalker. A few sketches end in interpretive dance sequences and, in one case, with each actor giving the other a custard pie in the face. What is lacking from each, though, is a strong enough theme, punch line or even coherent ending.
Evans and Pike clearly enjoy clowning with each other, and an audience of friends responds in kind. But given the seriousness of the themes that Evans and Pike want to explore, one needs a more coherent sense of comedy in order to take down the woman-haters. When the funniest part of the evening is a misogynistic earthworm, something’s not quite right.
Reviewed on 4 August 2024.
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Incoherent takedown of misogyny
