Review: EDINBURGH 2024: AMY MATTHEWS: COMMUTE WITH THE FOXES, Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Tron)

“People used to see comedy for a laugh”

Amy Matthews: Commute with the Foxes begins with a surprising topic for a comedy show - conspiracy theories. And the one Matthews chooses to focus on isn’t one of your typical theories like those about the death of Princess Diana, the moon landing or birds not being real. Instead, she tells us about her belief that Francis Bourgeois, a viral trainspotter, is a government plant. But, somehow, this conspiracy theory perfectly leads into the rest of the show.

Having seen Matthews’s solo show, I Feel Like I’m Made of Spiders, last year, I was already familiar with her style of comedy, a mix of storytelling and jokes that is balanced incredibly well, never leaving the audience with too much of one or the other. Commute with the Foxes is done in a similar style, with Matthews having the main story of her 3 ½ hour train journey from Glasgow to Manchester Piccadilly, making “stops” along the way that tie into the story as a whole.

Matthews uses the Disney film Inside Out and its personification of emotions to introduce us to her own, which she has named Prepper, Bargaining, Pep Talk, Side Missions (who takes on the appearance of Morticia Addams), Blair Witch, Clarity and Judgment (a fourteen-year-old girl). These characters are used to help the audience understand how Matthews puts off simple tasks, an insanely relatable bit that had me nodding in agreement for the entire segment.

But, along with the sillier bits, there are some more serious segments throughout the show. One of these is about how women are living in a constant state of vigilance, as illustrated by her reaction to the poet Edward James embroidering the footprints of his wife, dancer Tilly Losch, into the carpeted staircase of their home. Another interesting subjects that Matthews discusses is how it is easy to be nostalgic about the past but one must acknowledge the advancements that have been made, using the example of the classic icebreaker questions, “Where would you go if you could go back in time for a day?”

Matthews discusses how everything is a “constant distraction from mortality” but, sometimes, the universe will hit you out of nowhere, reminding you of your eventual fate. She uses this to discuss her belief that funerals are “deliciously camp” before reading a note on humanity she had written from a train, a gorgeous piece of spoken word (with some jokes, of course) that sticks with you long after the show has ended.

Credit must also be given to how well she dealt with an audience member who would not stop laughing, at some points referencing the laughter and making comments like “I’m in Hell,” which led to some fun tangents including one about the Fringe as a whole, with Matthews making the incredibly accurate observation of, “It’s almost as if doing this every day for a month is insane.”

Ultimately, Amy Matthews: Commute with the Foxes is a funny yet beautifully reflective piece of standup that does a fantastic job of seamlessly weaving in jokes and serious moments into an hour-long show. Matthews continues to prove just how excellent of a storyteller she is and I cannot wait to hear more from her in the future.

Amy Matthews: Commute with the Foxes ran until 25 August at Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Tron) - The Tron.

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