Siân Docksey @ Laughing Horse, The Newsroom

Energetic, playful and silly, Siân Docksey’s Interdependent Woman is a glittery maritime joy

Review by James McColl | 14 Aug 2018

Siân Docksey has decided to record some of her very successful stand-up to show her Belgium mother who thinks her daughter is a very successful cruise ship stand-up host. When the camera is off, the audience is taken into the slightly less glamorous reality of Docksey’s life.

A constantly reassuring presence, Docksey’s onstage persona provides a bright and colourful spin to even the most grubby and dankest of subjects. Segments filled with dance, prolonged voiceover interaction and the interspersed cruise ship hosting struggle next to Docksey’s more direct material, confessional and endearing tales of modern 20-something life. Though London centric, you may be hard pushed to find other acts discussing communal sex parties.

Interdependent Woman strikes the right balance of stupidity and subversiveness that her expertly timed gabs demand. Relaying to the audience a life that seems out of control, her measured outbursts of frustration are always accompanied by outlandish jokes to soften the blow. She speaks to the larger issues of millennial life, poor wages, poor living conditions, and a lack of savings followed by a song sung as a lobster from the inside of a whales stomach. Never untactful or blunt, she remains a playful presence that creates a sense of joy and bewilderment in equal measure.


Siân Docksey: Independent Woman, Laughing Horse, The Newsroom 2-26 Aug (not 6, 13 & 20), 1:15pm, Free

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