one4review | On 10, Aug 2018

This show has a good concept, an interesting hook, solid construction, tight links, clear narrative trajectory, and in performing Sarah knows her show inside out and back to front and never, ever sounds rehearsed. Excellent comedy doesn’t need to be avant-garde, filthy, or achingly message-laden. It can be about a fiftieth birthday celebration in Ibiza.

That juxtaposition of mums and Ibiza crops up a few times in the show, but it’s never laboured and only appears where relevant. Ms Johnson’s anecdotes are entirely relatable, with the entire audience laughing at some points, while at other times various smaller demographics within the audience found something particularly amusing. One anecdote ends with a fizzle which is, but doesn’t feel like, an anticlimax, such is the momentum and skill of the storytelling.

The story tracks from the initial invitation, through swithering about accepting and necessary preparations, through to being in Ibiza and her experiences there. It’s accompanied by visual aids, which give a lovely extra dimension to the show. I particularly enjoyed the interlude about the flight attendant.

Ms Johnson is an excellent performer, and this well-crafted hour is definitely worth seeing.

Reviewed by Laura

4.5 ****

Heroes @ Dragonfly, 14:00