Helen Bauer @ Monkey Barrel
Helen Bauer returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with an abrasive and triumphant hour
With Helen Bauer, you understand what you're in for right out of the gate. If you hadn’t come from her beloved podcast Trusty Hogs or any of her television appearances, you may require a moment to adjust to Bauer’s behemoth of a stage presence.
Tapping into the Gen Z mindset, ‘slaying’ and mantra-ing RuPaul’s “If You Can’t Love Yourself, How The Hell Can You Love Somebody Else”, Bauer also fully embodies an affronting, dangerously vocal and brilliantly caustic personality that is mid-explosion at all times.
Bless Her is anchored in oversharing and wildly confident assertions about the way we live our lives, from calling pregnancy ‘self-centred’ to comparing short men to the Suffragettes. She is fantastic at leaping over the line with such meticulous brashness without ever losing or ostracising her audience. The traits that Bauer brings to the table feel like they should make for an unlovable combination, but it is so easy to see why she is quickly capturing the hearts of many.
Despite Bauer's gallons of bravado, there is real authenticity shining throughout the show as she reflects on her journey through therapy and her grapples with childhood. What could be flippant tropes in the hands of a lesser comedian feel fresh, genuine and poignant as the star shamelessly cannons through routines.
In the intimacy of Monkey Barrel 1, the volume and speed that the comic blazes through her medical history and battles with self-image should feel uncomfortable but Bauer has weaponised intensity to its finest. Juggling the giddy personality of the over-sharer at theatre school with a temperament reminiscent of every wine-drunk auntie, the bold claims fly out fast and furiously but in a way that almost disguises how well-oiled and structured every moment of the show is. Balancing light and dark, self-loathing and love, there is a fantastic writer in Helen Bauer, donning the clothing of a woman at her wits' end.
A fantastic, abrasive and triumphant show that leaves us very excited to see what comes next.
Helen Bauer: Bless Her, Monkey Barrel (MB1), until 24 Aug (not 4, 11, 18), 3.20pm, £9-15