Ria Lina @ Monkey Barrel
Ria Lina makes her grand return to the Edinburgh Fringe, and revels in the chaos and comedy of her peri-menopausal glory
Life is quite hormonal for Ria Lina at the moment. Living in a flat with her three teenage kids and an ex-husband-turned-flatmate, Lina is ready to unleash her war cry as she navigates the seemingly endless yet glorious oncoming of menopause.
Armed with her signature colourful hair, a sugary drink, and a hidden slanket (if you know, you know), she laments the rising levels of stupidity of the current world with precision and wit, even comparing the confounding nature of menopause to an equally mystifying world of geopolitics.
Throughout her hormone-fuelled dissection, oestrogen, testosterone, and progesterone are hilariously personified to either critique or justify the rebellious actions of her youth (which somehow resulted in her achieving three degrees). Much like her Filipina mum, Lina is nothing but efficient, and helicopter parenting for her is a high-tech approach that reigns supreme. The powers of Asian parenting get a full spotlight; never mocked, but hilariously examined. An initially shaky Greta Thunberg bit becomes gold by the end, as Lina imagines Greta raised under her own helicopter-mum regime instead of Thunberg's progressive Swedish upbringing (warning: Lina may or may not attempt a Swedish accent).
Although no joke is truly lost, there are hiccups along the way in the form of forgotten bits. Ultimately, Lina is as chaotically coherent as one would expect from a peri-menopausal comedian talking about her hormones whilst on the second day of her period (she tells us) during the first week of the Fringe. She steers the show back with warmth, a sharp autistic lens on the literal understandings of idioms, and a reminder that menopause, for all its madness, can offer a sudden and perplexing freedom – apparently found in the freezer aisle of a Waitrose near you.
This is NOT a mid-life crisis. It’s an unapologetic Riabellion, and you will leave knowing the inter-generational magic of the slanket.
Ria Lina: Riabellion, Monkey Barrel (Cab Vol 1), until 24 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.25pm, £6-12