Review: CHLOE PETTS: BIG NATURALS, Soho Theatre

“In case you haven’t heard, I’m a role model now”

Chloe Petts: Big Naturals might take its name from one of the things comedian Chloe Petts loves the most (it is quite unfair how early a show has to have a title, isn’t it?), but it’s more about the life of Petts, less about one of her favourite things - but more on that later. For now, Petts is ready to tell us all about what it was like for her to grow up. But what inspired this reflection?

About a year ago, a couple came up to Petts after her show and told her that they think their daughter is gay. After introducing them to the easiest test to figure this out - how much she focuses on Charlie Dimmock on Ground Force - Petts comes to the realisation that she may be seen as a role model for younger queers, a person that people can come to with questions about lesbians and beyond. She worries, however, that growing up entrenched in “lad culture” will make things difficult.

What exactly is lad culture? Fear not, Petts is happy to explain, telling stories of growing up obsessed with Kasabian and Tom Meighan, being inspired to join a band herself, performing in the Holy Trinity Church Band and coming up with a unique hand signal for the band’s fans. It’s a hilarious introduction into Petts’s life that shows off her storytelling and comedic chops. For the American in the audience (AKA this particular critic), Petts also provides explanations for some very British references, those she worries that none of the show will make sense. Luckily for her, enough context is given so that even if a few references aren’t understood, the missed moments have no effect on the hilarity of the show as a whole.  

Along with lad culture and being a role model, there are a range of topics covered in Big Naturals, with one segment focused on Petts’s type in women - teeny tiny bisexuals who are both posh and baby gays - and some of her adventures in the world of football, with a highlight coming from the Lionesses’s win at the Euros in 2022. There is a slightly darker moment towards the end of the show, but, just as it is handled in real life, Petts is able to turn it into a moment of sweet reflection, along with some deserved insults to Tommy Robinson supporters - apologies, Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, as Petts argues he is the only person she will actively deadname. 

The show has little to no audience interaction, save for one particular audience member in the front row, who Petts recognises as someone who put their hand up her shirt in the last show - she promises there’s context to this! Each time Petts interacts with the audience she goes straight to this audience member, including nabbing some Polos from the table before returning to her set. 

Ultimately, Chloe Petts: Big Naturals is a great hour of comedy that allows Petts to share more about her past, most importantly the holy trinity that has defined her life - “Tits, fanny and football.” Petts may not be sure why she has been chosen to become a role model, but she is born to lead with her background of lad culture and thoughts on the phrase “Men Get Sad Too.”