Ruth Hunter @ PBH, Subway

Subversive So You Think You're Funny finalist Ruth Hunter presents an excellent debut hour

Review by James McColl | 22 Aug 2019
  • Ruth Hunter @ PBH, Subway

The move from Ireland to Scotland has led Ruth Hunter to question many aspects of her life, not least her comedy career. Science Idiot deals with these anxieties as well as Hunter's goal to be more marketable. What does it take to be marketable? This is a question Hunter is all too happy to answer. With the aid of her handdrawn flash cards, Hunter explains that we ask each other four relevant questions. These questions help identify what kind of a person you are, and in the case of Hunter, what kind of act she is. 

Hunter takes a knife to millennial identity, dissecting the issues that plague her and her generation. As millennial comedians now dominate the comedy scene, so do their stories and hardships. Hunter takes a fresh approach to topics many other comics her age discuss, navigating her way through well-trodden ground with grace. Her flippant fascinations and distractions mirror those of her generation, whose perpetual existential crises colour every decision. 

She's a performer most comfortable on the outside looking in. By her own admission, she was disappointed the millennium bug never happened. Her jokes are more often than not injected with absurdist humour. They are fast and never throwaway; always leading to a grander point or idea. She uses puppetry and a healthy dose of audience participation which is never taxing for those involved and never at their expense.

Above all else, Hunter is a revealing stand-up. She's happy to share her inner anxieties and self-doubt with audiences in a way that draws us to her. At times subversive, Hunter is an act that has a unique voice and different approach.


Science IdiotPBH's Free Fringe @ Subway (Main Room), until 24 Aug, 3.45pm, Free/PWYW