one4review | On 10, Aug 2024

I had often seen Sophie Duker on TV but this was my first time seeing her live. There was a buzz in the sell-out Pleasance Cabaret Bar as Duker, clad in electric blue, danced around the aisles, joshing with the crowd and ‘adopts’ a dad in the crowd prior to getting into the meat of the show, a therapy session with an often-absentee father via zoom with an Italian therapist called Michaelangelo to address Daddy issues.
And then there is delulu, a term to describe an unrealistic idea or dream, but camper. It seems her mother has it, her father too, not forgetting our comedian as well.
Sophie has boundless energy and oodles of stage presence, and is adept in pulling laughs from many sources, her mother’s collection of holy water, on-line sugar daddies, coming out, the continued desire to be thought of as cool, making a career in a heavily male dominated world she also takes a swipe or three at perceptions of what is cool or not.
I was not sure what I expected for this hour but I feel I saw a more vulnerable side of Sophies persona, her desire to be cool, swipes such as men are like dogs, cute but should not be allowed in the room, and yes the daddy issues also, took me a little by surprise.
There is no doubt however this show is a hit, virtually sold out for the run. She is definitely doing something right.
****
Reviewed by Geoff
Pleasance Cabaret Bar
19.00 to 20.00
Until 25th August (not 14th )