EDINBURGH 2019: Review: TIFF STEVENSON: MOTHER, Monkey Barrel

Stepmother's have never really had a great reputation thanks to fairy tales but Tiff Stevenson wants to change that. Rejecting all the buzzwords such as 'blended family' and 'non bio' Mother is about all the broader definition of motherhood and focuses on her very sweet relationship with her eleven-year-old stepson.

A few months ago Stevenson tweeted about an exchange she had seen in Starbucks where a male barista told a pregnant woman that she shouldn't be ordering coffee. The post went viral and was instantly hit with replies of women either saying that it had happened to them too or the classic 'didn't happen' from men.

This isn't 'comedy for women' which is a term some people have been banding around at the Fringe this year. Of course she's a feminist and there's one particular tampon joke that nearly caused me to choke from laughing but the majority of what Stevenson talks about is universal.

Although Mother is clearly a well written and rehearsed show, Stevenson is so relaxed onstage that she gives the impression of being off-the-cuff with most of her material. She covers a lot of personal and political ground at breakneck speed.

At the world's largest arts festival it is depressing how infrequently you hear working class voices- something Stevenson draws attention to with her faux Joanna Lumley accent and adds that maybe if she spoke like that, she'd be given a TV travel show.

Tiff Stevenson's unique brand of razor-sharp comedy is well constructed, intelligent and downright hilarious.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/tiff-stevenson-mother

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