Bridget Christie: Housewife Surrealist ★★★★★

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in ScotsGay on August 24th, 2011

Properly bonkers Bridget Christie takes to the stage in Catholic Priest garb and gorilla hands, dancing to a catchy version of the Dr Who theme tune. She goes on to throw biscuits (sorry – communal wafers) and spray (holy?) water over her capacity crowd. This is the first of many what the fuck? moments throughout this hour that make perfect sense once the punch line comes.

Christie describes herself as a Catholic, but she clearly has very little time for the pope, mocking his views on homosexuality especially. Nor does she approve of faith schools. She makes the point that “there is a lot of atheism about” amongst the large community of Stand Up comedians performing at the Fringe. Her husband is one of these atheist comics – portrayed here as a grumpy skeptic – and is the butt of many of her best jokes.

Ken Clarke’s idiotic comments about rape get another airing, but Christie’s take is fresh. She depicts the Catholic convert Tony Blair in confessional – and pokes fun at Larkin and Dawkins. She even squeezes in a skit on Martin Luther set in 1517.

I’ve been a fan of Bridget Christie since seeing her first Edinburgh Fringe show, Axis of Evil – which she performed with Andrew Doyle. This year she has surpassed herself, in a show that at its core, is intelligent satire masquerading as silliness. It features possibly the best Nick Clegg joke I have ever witnessed. The ending, featuring the Ascension of Jesus – is priceless.

ScotsGay on 24th August 2011.
Filed Under: Housewife Surrealist, Review

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