one4review | On 17, Aug 2025

An entertaining hour in the company of vibrant and charasmatic Ayoade
Bamgboye proves that a comedy show can be both fast-talking and warmly
reflective, a blend of interesting anecdotes and playful invention that
paints a picture while keeping the audience happily laughing throughout.

From the moment she announces she had to “reorder her prefrontal
cortex” before diving into a surreal Co-op showdown over a box of tea,
Ayoade’s natural warmth and chatty stage presence connect instantly.

She takes us from being the insufferable and powerful five-year-old
first-born twin in Nigeria (where mythology gives twins an extra glow),
by way of the disillusioned seeker of feminism and scotch eggs in
England, to a job in Budapest assisting a Hollywood director, with
late-night calls to the Samaritans, completed with a poignant song to an
audience member.

Each tale is appealingly layered with satire and sincerity, and always
delivered with a twinkle that elicited genuine laughter.

The content often circles heavy themes of loss, rage, cultural
expectations, but the mood is happy throughout, because Ayoade engenders
infectious laughter even when confessing to skiing when supposedly in
mourning.

By the time we loop back to that Co-op, the audience has been swept
along on a witty, warm, and engaging journey. The audience loved the
show; she certainly knows how to sell it.

****

Reviewed by HJ

Pleasance Courtyard – Beneath

Various Times (1hr)

Until 24 Aug