Jessica Fostekew @ Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh
Powerhouse comic Jessica Fostekew shows us her mettle in her brand new hour of stand-up
A new show from Jess Fostekew is a big event, given her excellent track record and nimbleness in straddling the personal and the political. Her specials, Hench and then Wench, established a sense of an ongoing dialogue with her audience. Mettle, her new show, is no different, marked as it is by a genuine sense of intimacy: the easy opening chat about spring springing (‘I’m very nearly eating seasonally’, she says, ‘asparagus and mini eggs’) and gossip about the new series of Gladiators. The substance is there, too, with the climate crisis emerging very vividly as the focus of the show.
She professes to do crowd work only reluctantly, but she’s great at it: the reciprocal energy bubbling up in the room is palpable. The language of safe spaces may be half-ironic in her bashful invitations, but actually, the ease of the audience reveals just what a safe space can be. There are gorgeously gossipy threads about Fostekew’s young son, her partner, and school WhatsApp groups, and a gripping tell-all about a hair-raising experience on the TV show World’s Most Dangerous Roads. As always, the detail and nuance of her physical comedy demonstrates that body language really is a distinctive language.
The feminism here is perhaps more subtle than in earlier shows – but there’s a nice line in feminist citation which works to casually foreground female performers: Sarah Millican is a particular touchstone, along with Desiree Burch and Lou Sanders. Fostekew counters that low-key strategy with other touches: her fury at a strident comment on the WhatsApp group that boys aren’t as empathetic as girls, for instance (desperate to retaliate, she pleads with her partner for ‘just one emoji’).
The fast and loose quality of the show is very enjoyable, and in some ways the more fleeting bits are stronger than the set pieces. Fostekew moves from her earlier material of bodies, ageing and identity politics to a new focus on London's ULEZ and climate. It’s perhaps a tougher sell – as shown by the deeply unsexy litter picker she brandishes on stage – but clearly an essential one.
Jessica Fostekew: Mettle, reviewed on 5 March 2024 at Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh; Mettle tours the UK and Ireland until June
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