one4review | On 04, Aug 2025

The overarching theme of Helen Bauer’s ‘Bless Her’ is evident before she even arrives on stage, delivered to the audience through a compilation of media snippets about self love – the most notable being Ru Paul’s famous Drag Race catchphrase: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”. When Helen begins her show, this journey for her own self acceptance is contextualised comedically through her description of ‘the stages of therapy’ she has encountered, culminating in the reveal that – regardless of how it may appear – Helen is not alone on stage. And the person sharing the stage with her is making it really difficult for her to love herself. While this is the main premise of her show, she impressively incorporates many other threads without it feeling too meandering, including – but not limited to – female friendships, mother-daughter relationships, mother-son relationships, the Suffragette movement and also (somehow) the Irish potato famine.

During the show, she describes her stand-up as a ‘panic attack’, truly reflective of her frantic and confessional style. However, equally true is just how deeply likeable and personable she is in her comedy, making the audience feel like they are her friend in gossipy delivery, frequently declaring “gather, gather” and lowering her voice to make us feel as if she is sharing a secret with us.

The last part of the show becomes more sincerely reflective on this theme of self love when Helen does earnestly reveal one of her own secrets to the audience, a secret which has complicated the achievement of self acceptance for her. While the nature of this is clearly ongoing and complicated due to other health developments in Helen’s life, she is still able to discuss this with levity and humour, concluding the show on an amusing and optimistic note which leaves you rooting for her.

 

****

Reviewed by Niamh O’Hara

Monkey Barrel 1 15.20 – 16.20

July 28th – August 24th (exc. 4, 11, 18)