Review: SUE PERKINS: THE ETERNAL SHAME OF SUE PERKINS, King's Theatre

As part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Sue Perkins returns with her first standup show in a decade. 

We’ve known and loved several different versions of Sue Perkins over the last thirty years. There’s Bake Off Sue, Radio 4 Sue and travel presenter Sue. This show takes a look at all of those alter egos, along with the more personal side.

The revelation of an ADHD diagnosis might not come as a surprise after the whirlwind of the first section of the show. Hitting out with a variety of anecdotes and baking-related puns, it's organised chaos as she rattles through the material with a few distractions.

It’s not a rowdy crowd by any means and one additional piece of material shouted out by an audience member inspires a new ‘bit’ that goes down a storm. Perkins seems to get an awful lot out of her audience and this leads to a few improvised moments that prove she’s a skilled standup.

The second half of the show delves into the more personal and sensitive material, but it feels a little bit safe. There’s a vulnerability as she talks about the circumstances that led to her needing to stay in a psychiatric facility for a time but as the delivery is still fairly jaunty, it doesn’t quite hit the way it should. 

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