“What is this ‘us girls’ world everybody else lives in?” asks Fern Brady. The new hour from the Bathgate standup, Male Comedienne, penetrates Brady’s complicated relationship with womankind. A few of its punchlines need more polish, and the snarky remarks about awards and middle-class audiences are unnecessary. But this is a step up from last year’s debut: more confident, more tonally varied (misanthropy is lower in the mix) and with more eye-catching things to say.
It begins by addressing Brady’s self-image – some old material about her eyes being far apart; more on her being mistaken for a man, and having no female friends. A few gags are a draft short of maximum effectiveness. One comparing Brady’s attempts at femininity to a man dressed as a dog promises a punchline that never materialises, before you realise the premise is the punchline. Elsewhere, she peddles cliches when describing the hipster restaurant that’s opened on the site of the stripclub where she once worked.
The show’s fulcrum is this section recounting Brady’s past life as a stripper – stage name Eva, dancing in six-inch heels to Dirty Diana. She tells the story offhand and without a hint of sentimentality; her grand finale mocks comedians who wring tears to win prizes. She could afford to forget about them, and focus on the insights stripping has given her into feminism, female behaviour and transactions in society at large. That’s the keynote of this sophomore set from a comic whose work grows increasingly compelling.
• At Stand Comedy Club, until 28 August. Box office: 0131-226 0000.
