Olga Koch @ Monkey Barrel

Prawn Cocktail continues to show Olga Koch for the wonderfully crass, whip-smart and raw comedian she is

Review by Yasmin Hackett | 14 Aug 2023
  • Olga Koch

Olga Koch is now officially 30 years old, which of course means she feels younger than she ever felt in her late 20s. Prawn Cocktail explores her new lease for life, and it wouldn’t be an Olga Koch show if it wasn’t loveably rogue and positively blue. This is an unfortunate fact for the young child who is promptly ushered from the Monkey Barrel venue as Koch is beginning to establish just how filthy her material can get. Koch is thrown, understandably so, but ever the professional, she powers through the set, demonstrating the new and hysterical ways she's found to embrace hoe culture.

Since we saw her last Fringe, some things have changed. She now has a master’s degree, which looked at parasocial relationships between ‘reply guys’ and famous women on social media, and plants the seed for the overarching message of the show. She’s also been spending time with married couples and at weddings, with the crux of the show involving a guy she met and hooked up with at one of them. Naturally, after this rendezvous they plan a holiday to Japan, but the trip doesn’t quite live up to either of their expectations. It doesn’t matter though, as Koch has a gift for reframing unfortunate events (or so she thinks). And when in need, she always has her Magic Mikes to turn to.

Prawn Cocktail has a surprisingly vulnerable core which catches you off-guard. Her vulnerability is well-placed and gives grounding to earlier material that may have more squeamish audiences blushing. What makes Olga Koch such a riveting comedian is her ability to tackle material that is all at once wonderfully crass, whip-smart and raw. And yet again, Koch shows us how liberating and exciting it is to exist in two spaces at once: as a person who cares about how she’s perceived – and as a ‘dirty little slut’.


Olga Koch: Prawn Cocktail, Monkey Barrel (Monkey Barrel 1), until 27 Aug, 7.35pm, £8-10