EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ALEXANDRA HADDOW: NOT MY FINEST HOUR, Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two
A fun hour of comedy, but it sometimes struggles to find a balance between comedy and moments of pain and heartbreak
From the minute she walks on stage, Alexandra Haddow makes herself approachable. She chats with the audience like that cool friend we all have who is always telling crazy stories about their life and a feeling of trust is built between her and the audience. Alexandra Haddow: Not My Finest Hour is focused on the worst mistake that Haddow is willing to tell the world, which is an affair she had with a minor celebrity.
Along with the main story of her affair with this celebrity, Haddow goes a bit more into her life including where she grew up, what it was like to work for a magazine, and her other dating experiences (which include some hilarious stories that could also be a show within themselves). Her crowd work is nice, if infrequent, with one of the highlights being a conversation with an audience member who was from the same town as her, where a train station with one trip a day to London was built in the early 2000s.
I would have loved to see her go a bit more into her thoughts on having the affair, especially as she goes into some darker topics later in the story. Focusing on her worst mistake, the affair, and the events surrounding it would have given the audience a better opportunity to empathise with Haddow and her mistakes of the past. The darker moments sometimes come out of nowhere and can be quite jarring, but not in the most effective way.
Ultimately, Alexandra Haddow: Not My Finest Hour is a fun hour of comedy, but it sometimes struggles to find a balance between comedy and moments of pain and heartbreak, particularly towards the end of the show. Haddow is a talented comedian and I look forward to seeing her work develop more in the future!
Alexandra Haddow: Not My Finest Hour runs at Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two at 18:55 until 28 August (no performance on 26 August).
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