Ellie White: Humans @ Viva Mexico

Deep in the bowels of a Mexican restaurant is a rising star, refusing to be torn down. This is, of course, Eileen Gas, a manically self-congratulatory motivational speaker, and one of Ellie White’s sketch characters. Standing alone, these are women who fearlessly stand on the edge of cat lady anxiety and sheer silliness.

In her Fringe Festival show, Ellie plays a cast of performers, and is often so completely absorbed that it’s easy to forget this is only a sketch. She becomes the motivational speaker, a spoken word poet with a fixation on David Cameron, a tragicomic Turkish beauty pageant contestant, an intensely Scottish football coach in an interview, and a woman making a birthday toast for her cat to a pretend audience of no one. The clue is in the descent into absurdity at the end of each sketch. But there’s a masterful slow build of each character, and a genuinely skilled ability to cloak herself in accents and acting that make the characters believable – before the rug gets pulled out.

While some of the build-ups feel a bit belaboured, the payoff is clear. This is a highly enjoyable first time solo show that already has the room filled and comedy-goers standing, eagerly pressed in at all sides. Ellie White is a talented character comic, not just for her quirky and unexpected jabs and frankly ridiculously good comedy songs, but her fluid ability to move through accents, voices, and personalities.