Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Low Down
A young female Australian comedienne details the challenges of growing up on a pineapple farm. Unafraid to take on risque material, she has originality and physicality that makes this well worth seeing.
Review
Stand up comedians come in all shapes and sizes. Some are just naturally funny – Tommy Cooper, for example, could make people laugh without saying a word. Some people craft their material and learn how comedy works over a period of time – they find out who they are and where their comedy sits most happily. Laura Rose is 3 years into her career and although her offering “Bushpig” is not perfect, there are enough flashes of originality and physicality that make this well worth seeing.
Rose grew up on a pineapple farm in Australia – subject to all the risks that an extreme climate brings – drought, flood, storms and as we find out, crows. Pineapple juice also features in a discussion of “that” urban myth which Rose gleefully chairs. Being in an isolated area in a huge country brings its own challenges and Rose is bullied at school – but this provides some rich material about childhood moving into teenage years. Rose’s chief skill is taking on areas that people shrink from – incest, for example. She’ll work a gag in undercover and enjoy the uncomfortable moment when it lands. She’s cheeky and has a beaming smile (a little reminiscent of Ellie Taylor). She’s also quite skinny and a bit gawky which plays well in her more physical episodes.
The act goes down very well with the Aussies who are in – but some of the material is lost in translation for Brits and others – terms like “Bogan” (the nearest UK equivalent would be a chav) or “Gobby” (blow job). A little preparation – or simultaneous Oz-Brit translation – would help overcome any small hiatus in the rhythm of delivery.
She’s a stand up equivalent of a shock-jock – unafraid to push boundaries and take on self-deprecating subjects like suffering from diarrhoea in a foreign country (the fallout from this, told with great physicality, is one of the highlights of the act), or stuck porn.
There’s milder stuff for contrast, about stalking her now husband. Rose’s journey will be honing this act, finding what the best laughs are, perhaps with an outside eye. She has no shortage of good material and her persona is very engaging. “Bushpig” at the moment is a mixed bag, with some very funny moments, worth seeing and with great promise going forwards.
