Rachel Fairburn brings her newest performance ‘Showgirl’, a brand new 2023 tour, to the pride of North East comedy venues, The Stand Comedy Club in Newcastle, on Tuesday 26th September. Attendees can safely or not-so-safely anticipate the biting bitterness and acerbic wit Fairburn has made her calling card while emerging as a comedy star, as her ascendancy verifiably continues here.
While helming her style extensively as co-host of the smash hit podcast ‘All Killa No Filla’ alongside her comedic pea-in-a-pod Kiri Pritchard-McLean (casting their unique eyes over a gallery of serial killers while bestowing a more traditional meaning back upon the phrase ‘side-splitting’), a simultaneous run of festival stints and tour stops over the years has seen Fairburn successfully refine what she does on stage, with hilarious results.
‘Showgirl’ finds the Manchester comedian at something resembling a crossroads in life, worrying that she may be mellowing out, which ought to add an intriguing but, at least for those versed in her pedal-to-the-metal material to date, somewhat eyebrow-raising angle to proceedings. The presser offers the chance to “catch her before she disappears into the countryside with only joss sticks and taxidermy for company” now that she’s freshly turned away from alcohol, only one sentence after quoting Rolling Stone in describing her as “the rock’n’roll star of British comedy”.
This blurb introduces a previously unsighted element of worry which could scarcely ever be detected between the take-no-prisoners commentary, the whip-smart juxtapositions and the intelligent gags machine-gunned in from the windows to the walls, all of which collectively characterised former appearances. To the extent that any new tour date from a stand-up act asks where our protagonist is now and where they think they are heading next, whether explicitly advertised or not, ‘Showgirl’ cuts to the chase of this existential drama, crucially without sacrificing laughs.
Nonetheless, the concept of Fairburn tapping the brakes ought to locate a new wellspring for her comedic subject matter, an excellently pitched counterpoint to the usual boldness and candour of her work.
A regular hot tip in recent years across the UK’s highly competitive comedy scene, Fairburn has broken through precisely because her conversationally-leaning style, best served in club settings, underpins the strengths of her act. This streak runs through her comedic identity and ought to shine as brightly as ever in a set which actively seeks to engage the audience with such topics, especially at a venue as intimate as The Stand.
Tickets, priced from £13.50 in advance, are available from thestand.co.uk.
