Nina Conti: Evolution

The history of showbiz is littered with the evidence of a simple fact: one trick ponies don’t last. Bernie Clifton and Oswald, Ken Dodd and Charlie Brown, Keith and Orville. Where are they now? Butlin’s and Peter Kay TV series, that’s where.

Nina Conti is all too aware of the Sword of Damocles that hangs above her head; a ventriloquist’s act can only last so long and she has been with Monk the monkey for quite a while now – since she was seven in fact. At the heart of Conti’s act lies a simple premise: she is a polite, well brought up lady, embarrassed by crude language and sexual references; monkey is a foul-mouthed rapscallion who takes pleasure in giving his master reason to blush.

Undoubtedly, when fresh, Conti’s brilliance as an actress and her sixth sense for comic timing mean that she and Monk win far more laughs than most. But how do you go about reinvigorating such a simple joke once the Fringe has already heard it? Whilst many a lesser comedian would baulk at the challenge of reinvention, Conti has taken the task head on and come up with a tale that has taken her adventures with Monk out of stand-up and well into the realms of sitcom.

In tonight’s episode, Monk is feeling depressed that his voice and very being are merely figments of Conti’s imagination and seeks a separation to search for a new partner with a suitably higher profile – Johnny Vegas, perhaps. The stress caused by Monk’s decision spins Conti into a whirlwind of emotions that lead her to commit an act she may later regret.

With more of her trademark precision timing, rapid improvisation and excellence in the skill of ventriloquism—at one point Conti holds a conversation between a puppet of her father and Monk, who is being voiced by the puppet of her father—2008’s show is as thrilling and captivating as any could have hoped for. And with a massive, great rope now firmly wrapped around that sword above her head, Conti is set to avoid the graveyard of Blackpool Pier for many years to come.