Power & Chaos

Fern Brady is not interested in being polite. Filmed at Glasgow’s Oran Mor shortly before the 2020 lockdown, Power & Chaos leans heavily into her reputation as a confrontational, blunt presence. The hour works best when she is actively trying to make someone uncomfortable, particularly in her routine about transforming into the “patron saint of cat-called women”—a bit where she describes making street harassers deeply regret opening their mouths.

Released on television and streaming in 2021, the special arrived just before Brady’s breakout appearance on Taskmaster introduced her to a wider mainstream audience. Here, she is still very much the club-hardened cynic, working through a set that targets everything from a politician’s failed attempt to cancel her to the grim realities of Scottish amateur pornography.

Brady’s material is episodic, bouncing from her time spent in a mental health unit and early realizations about being on the autism spectrum to her experiences with bisexuality. Instead of aiming for a neat, overarching thesis, she relies on her distinctive Bathgate brogue to deliver sharp, unsentimental routines about class, internet creeps, and her own skepticism toward mindfulness. She is consistently at her best when she is slightly irritated.