Edinburgh Fringe 2017
All Kidding Aside
Christel Bartelse
Genre: Comedy, Solo Show, Theatre
Venue: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (V53)
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Time is running out for non-mom Christel. A life-altering decision teeters before her and she is still sitting on the fence. To mom or not to mom. Sometimes the biggest fears are the little ones.
Review
Christel Bartelse is a Canadian performer, writer and clown. In All Kidding Aside she plays Christel, a perky 30-something with a ticking biological clock. So far, so familiar territory. Bartelse succeeds in making this an interesting and quirky look at the age old question faced by many women who have a career, a happy marriage, friends to hang out with – to have a child or not – and possibly ruin all that is good in her life. With her lively physicality she brings to the stage her unsympathetic GP (everyone’s problems can be put down to irritable bowel syndrome), a scary gynaecologist who is oblivious to her abdominal pains and even her own imagined future baby. She takes us through her medical history (really much funnier and less squirm inducing than it sounds) and discusses the pros and cons of having a baby with the audience (joining in optional).
There is little new or fresh in the material but Christel is a delightful character to spend an hour with. This is a gentle comedy in a central venue, well worth catching if you need a rest from the hurly burly of the fringe.
