Sharon Wanjohi @ Pleasance Courtyard
Sharon Wanjohi's scripted material is underdeveloped in parts, but she makes up for it with impressive amounts of star power
It’s obvious the moment Sharon Wanjohi sprints out that we’re in for something special. Racing through material, Wanjohi shines brightest while confidently careering off-course and pushing the gags to one side to talk with the audience. From first dates to Norwegian lawyers, whenever someone catches Wanjohi’s eye she’s unable to draw herself away, instead sprawling herself on the floor and giddily swapping anecdotes.
As Wanjohi coaxes increasingly revealing tidbits from her audience with aplomb, it highlights something very important about the comic – this night isn’t about plugging her hour, it's about creating an experience. The show is unique, colourful and gloriously uplifting, undeniably due to these moments where Wanjohi so naturally jumps off the page.
The material itself can feel sparse, loosely based around Wanjohi’s self-help book, including top tips like sleeping in more, buying cigarettes over vapes and more earnestly, embracing the cringe in day-to-day life. The more scripted passages feel slightly underwhelming, without any joke that’s going to surprise the audience, but even these routines are delivered with an unparalleled, captivating warmth.
The show teases concepts of betrayal, with Wanjohi alluding to both a distant father, and a friend who lost his life. As the show evolves, we see ripples of this hurt gestured at, without ever being sufficiently expanded upon. These passing motifs are thrown in sparsely throughout the hour, without the material having space enough to form an arc or trajectory. The emotional payoff of the piece feels underdeveloped as it never seems to reach its final crescendo, despite an emotional Wanjohi wiping a genuine tear from her eye and eliciting a tender 'it’s okay, baby' from a concerned audience member.
Wanjohi makes the show work, and her abundance of character fills the hour with heart in excess, but the cursory mentions towards those darker elements feel unresolved in the narrative. While the material may need refining, one thing for certain is that Sharon Wanjohi has an undeniable gift. We cannot see a world in which she isn’t one of the biggest, brightest stars of tomorrow.
Sharon Wanjohi: In The House, Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two), until 24 Aug, 6.55pm, £12-£14