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Male Comedienne

Fern Brady

Comedy Dynamics · 2017 · 52 min

A prickly stand-up hour about class, gender, and stripping.

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Fern Brady spent her second solo hour establishing why she does not belong to the cozy club of polite female stand-ups, anchored by her indignation at being snubbed from the annual Edinburgh Fringe female comedians’ brunch. Her stage presence is combative, delivering stories of being mistaken for a man in shops and having a tabloid accidentally run her photo to illustrate an article about her boyfriend. Rather than leaning into easy, self-deprecating neuroses, she brings a hard-headed logic to her past life working as a stripper, analyzing the industry as a transaction like any other without asking for the audience’s pity.\n\nRecorded at The Stand in Edinburgh and released in 2017 by Comedy Dynamics, the show caught Brady as she was transitioning from a highly regarded newcomer to one of the UK’s most distinctive touring acts. The set ranges from her lapsed Catholic upbringing and the absurdity of Brexit to her odd encounters with online pen pals. It builds toward a divisive finale that parodies the trend of comedians using manufactured vulnerability to win awards, punctuated by a stunt set to Sia’s “Breathe Me”. Critics noted the show’s sharp tone and praised her refusal to play nice for middle-class festival crowds.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Being excluded from the Annual Female Comedians Brunch at the Edinburgh Fringe

    Uses her devastation and confusion over missing out on the brunch to dissect her fraught relationship with womankind and comedy industry cliques.

  2. Reflections on working for two and a half years as an Edinburgh stripper

    Argues that stripping is more honest and less hypocritical than the comedy industry, examining what sex work taught her about feminism.

  3. Physical self-image and being mistaken for a man

    Explores self-deprecating insecurities about her wide-apart eyes, big hands, and having her photograph published in a national newspaper mistaken for her boyfriend.

  4. Gender identity doubts and transitioning discussions with her boyfriend

    Recounts feeling like a man inside and telling her partner she might transition, only for him to point out she just hates being patronized by men and rejects rigid gender roles.

  5. Lapsed Catholic guilt and parental relations

    Contrasts her strict Catholic background and unsupportive parents with her adult choices and previous jobs.

How it plays

Tone
Dark, dry, acidic, acerbic, and unabashedly honest.
On stage
Blunt, dark-humored, emotionally forthright, self-deprecating, and fiercely unapologetic.
About
gender, class, Catholicism and lapsed Catholic guilt, stripping and sex work, female friendship and the myth of sisterhood, body image and being mistaken for a man

What the critics said

Critically praised across multiple Edinburgh Fringe publications as sharp, acidic, and bold, winning accolades for her razor-sharp turn of phrase and uncompromising honesty about identity and sex work.

In the room: A receptive, sell-out crowd that lapped up the material, responding with both strong laughter and empathy.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: primevideo.com, comedy.co.uk, themoviedb.org, theguardian.com, one4review.co.uk, machcomedyfest.co.uk, bbc.co.uk, glasgowlive.co.uk.

Backstory

Drawing from her previous two and a half years working as a stripper in Edinburgh, her upbringing in a staunchly Catholic family, and her perceived outsider status and alienation regarding mainstream female social bonding.

Details

Released
Taped
The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
Runtime
52 min
Where
Comedy Dynamics
Director
Stuart Laws
Honors
The List: ★★★★★The Skinny: ★★★★★Fest: ★★★★ and 2 more
Topics
After
Power & Chaos (2021)

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