Christopher Hall @ Gilded Balloon at the Museum
Christopher Hall understands his audience but doesn’t trust them in his debut hour Girl For All Seasons
Christopher Hall knows his audience, and he knows them well, because this show is strictly for and about The Girlies. Just in case you aren’t sure, The Girlies are bottomless-brunching, Ugg-slipper-wearing, kiwi-strawberry-ice-vaping icons. They love pink gin, Instagram meme pages like Love of Huns, and lolling loads, which Hall, a self-professed Girly since day dot, knows all too well. And, it appears, like attracts like; The Girlies have flocked en masse to Hall’s debut hour Girl For All Seasons.
Where Hall falters, unfortunately, is in his belief that his audience won’t understand more nuanced, or richer jokes. He references it, at one point, stating that ‘the show ain’t getting cleverer than this.’ Except it’s obvious that Hall is a very clever man.
It goes without saying really: he’s successfully managed to amass an impressive online following (500,000 followers on TikTok!) and has shifted that audience offline and into real life. Even more so in the moments where his intellect slips into his routine – this is mostly anecdotal comedy, and a lot of the observations have been made before, but when the idiosyncrasies slip in is when this hour comes alive. There’s a particularly hilarious bit involving his mum, The Dumping Ground, and an inherent fear of being arrested.
Sadly, those moments are few and far between. Instead, Hall presents an hour made up of situational comedy pinched straight off the internet. There’s chat of embarrassing MSN Hotmail addresses, of the unfortunate dating phenomenon of men-up-mountains. That doesn’t mean Hall, or the hour, isn’t funny – they are. But where the show truly flourishes, and the laughter reaches raucous heights, is when Hall trusts his audience. Luckily, The Girlies are notoriously forgiving, and should Hall return to the Fringe next year, with a little more him and a little less internet, we trust that he’ll truly be a girl for all seasons.
Christopher Hall: Girl For All Seasons, Gilded Balloon at the Museum (Auditorium), until 25 Aug, 9.10pm, £10-14