Tuesday 23 July 2019

COMEDY REVIEW: Sian Davies: About Time - The Met Theatre, Bury.


Sian Davies is a stand-up comedian from Liverpool – winner of the Hilarity Bites New Act competition in 2018 and a finalist in the Nando’s New Comedian Of The Year 2017. Davies was also a finalist in the Funny Women stage award 2018 and selected to take part in the prestigious Circuit Breakers showcase at the Leicester Comedy Festival. She has received some fantastic reviews in her short career, despite only being on the circuit since 2017.

Tonight’s show was written about a time in Davies’ life when, as she puts it, “she had to grow up” – from a young carefree 20-something which she referred to as a “d**khead” to a far more sensible 30-something who became a full time carer for her mother. This was not something she did by choice, but merely because circumstances forced her into it.

Davies arrived on stage to a relatively small audience, having been announced by herself – as seems to be the way with stand-up comedians these days. It wasn’t long before she shared with us that she was a gay woman, noting that we might have guessed given that she had a “Morrissey style quiff” and “comfortable clothes”. Now this in itself is not unusual for a comedian to announce something like this, but what I liked about Davies is how she complained about the fact that there was no longer any ceremony about this announcement and how she hated the fact that nobody was in the least bit bothered – this was very well delivered and very funny.

As mentioned earlier, the show itself was about growing up and as with many comedy shows there were both jokes and serious messages that were included. The lack of NHS funding being one of the key messages that the audience walked away from this show with. Davies was able to give her own account of where she had been failed by the system and the hardships she had endured as a result of her mother’s illness and the lack of support. I’m sure this is a message that resonates with a lot of the public and this is where Davies excels in her ability to keep the balance between laughs and serious issues just about right.

This is the first time I have seen Sian Davies live and I have to say I was very impressed. She does a lot of physical humour which just adds an extra dimension to her material, the descriptions of the different toilet experiences during her gap year were absolutely hilarious. Her style is very much one that made us, the audience, feel at ease and this is important for a comedian. I would love to see more of Davies in the future and I have no doubt that I will get the chance.


Reviewer - John Fish
on - 20/7/19

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