Brighton Fringe 2026
Low Down
An hour of musical comedy.
Review
If you have never heard of Sam Hickman, look her up immediately. Her solo show, First Woman, is absolutely not to be missed. It is a riotous hour of musical comedy that is fun, funny, and beautifully filthy. Hickman is an exceptionally talented artist whose absolute mastery of the harp and soaring, operatic vocal power are perfectly matched by her razor-sharp comedic timing.
From her towering feather headdress down to her giddily high gold heels, Sam is a shimmering icon of classic cabaret glamour. However, this is far more than standard cabaret; it is pure theatre. The show moves with an impressive narrative pace, balancing deep shades of darkness and light as she guides the audience through her life story—from a childhood full of humming as self-protection, to her medical transition and her reckless, riotous love life.
Hickman plays the audience with the exact same deft precision she applies to her instrument. She expertly tugs at our heartstrings with emotional lyrics, only to land a filthy punchline with the skill of a seasoned comic, leaving the room roaring with laughter. The lightness of her touch in telling her audience about being “othered” and searching for “belonging” in today’s social climate touch a profound nerve. It is a pacy, punchy, and deeply moving exploration of womanhood, delivered as a musical pageant of carefully composed and curated comic songs and outrageous tales of endless sex.
If there is any critique, it is that her Victoria Wood-like comedic talent could be used to deliver punchlines that could easily take us to a different, equally brilliant place, rather than too often reverting to body fluids and sex acts. Funny though they were!
Still, her cultural reference points are delightfully eccentric, jumping from a visit to a funeral museum to the TV series Monk, motherhood, and her recurring theme of love versus self-sabotage. First Woman is a rollercoaster of sharply observed human behaviour. The songs are sung with superb panache, and the stand-up is slickly delivered with a masterful mix of audience banter, pathos, and camp. I laughed throughout. If you are a fan of Fascinating Aïda, you will love this.
