"I don't care what kind of day you've had," says Sandra Bernhard. "You will laugh. You will enjoy. You will embrace." I'm sure Bernhard is used to making things happen by sheer force of personality. Hers, after all, is as forceful as they come. But if showbiz scuttlebutt and off-hand cattiness isn't your bag, all Bernhard's directives will be in vain, and you'll find this revival of her 1988 standup set, Without You I'm Nothing, hard to enjoy or, indeed, embrace.
Much of the material is undistinguished. There's an account of the day Bernhard just had, trawling through Britain's chatshow studios. There are wisecracks about Madonna and her adopted son, and a recital of dim-witted quotes from a fashion magazine. Elsewhere, her "funny stories" are just bits of gossip that peter out. She also constantly refers to a crib-sheet.
None of that will bother the many fans who find Bernhard's swaggering persona irresistible. Twenty years ago, that persona - an unapologetic, gives-better-than-she-gets bisexual female standup - may have seemed fresh. But everyone mocks celebrities these days, and it's hard still to seem alternative when you're a celebrity yourself.
What is left is some sassy chat and Bernhard's belter of a voice applied to some great tunes - the evening's highlight is her exaggeratedly jazzy take on Billy Paul's Me and Mrs Jones. Her charisma and caustic turn of phrase disguise, on this occasion, the fact that she has nothing very interesting to say.
