Chloe Petts @ Pleasance Courtyard

Chloe Petts is right that the poster for Transience is deceptive: it suggests clever discourse on one of the hottest topics of the day – but that’s not really what this show is. Apparently, she did originally intend it to be clever, but having got a lot more stupid over lockdown, this very funny and rather blokey show is the result.

What’s rather brilliant about this is that the 'being more stupid about gender' is actually entirely the point, because in the end in all the fuss about toilets, ‘It’s all just poo and wee’. She’s trying to unravel the complex knots of the arguments, to find somewhere simpler where we can all meet. The blokeyness is also the point: Petts actively embraces lad culture, and while she tirelessly mocks both men and masculinity, she is also hugely affectionate towards this aspect of her raison d’etre.

A happy ‘child geezer’, Petts lost her way in adolescence and we get to see evidence of the messy results (a joke about the Horniman Museum is worth the price of admission alone). Now having arrived at an androgynous presentation she’s comfortable with, and at ease with frequent misgendering, Petts has fascinating insider stories of the life of men. The blokes who have season seats next to hers at the football for example, and their endless chat about motorways (and the blissful moment when she proves herself man enough for inclusion).

Her discussions of misgendering are straightforward, noticing that it’s the overreactions to the mistake that are largely the problem; the frantic scrabble for self-abasement another aspect of the overheated atmosphere. Transience is a show full of big laughs, and perhaps there’s also a larger, more serious purpose at work: in replacing the hot take with a more determinedly low-key approach.

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Chloe Petts: Transience, Pleasance Courtyard (Upstairs), until 28 Aug (not 15), 6pm, £10-12