Greta Titelman @ Pleasance Courtyard

Greta Titelman’s Exquisite Lies presents us with an apparently faithful account of Titelman’s formative years. Our host repeatedly pierces the narrative bubble to assure us of its authenticity – she is, for example, using her childhood bully’s real name. And yes, she did repeatedly sleep with a man who had etched ‘no means yes and yes means anal’ into the roof of his bottom-bunk bunk bed. 

The audience may wonder how many of these shocking details are true. This is, obviously, the bedrock of good stand-up, but the ambiguity in this case veils a playful threat, like we’re being made fools of. Titelman tells us early on that you can make men like you if you just lie; it’s not until we leave and look down at our flyers that we remember the show’s cautionary title. 

Titelman's performance keeps step with the increasing chaos of her story throughout, and although some of the show’s early musical numbers aren’t exactly packed with gags, by the time the show reaches its manic conclusion she has the audience in fits of tears (of laughter). Her performance feels at times like she is playing a game of chicken with us, one which we inevitably lose as she sings to, shouts at, and climbs on us.

Far from your usual Fringe plot of personal growth, this is the tale of a woman who will not change, despite what character-building experiences may come her way. Titelman pleasingly resists the temptation to afford herself some drawn-out redemption arc; she doesn’t owe it to the audience to prove that she’s a reformed character, or to be one at all.

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Greta Titelman's Exquisite Lies, Pleasance Courtyard (Upstairs), until 27 Aug, £11.50-13.50