Hackney Empire, London
You’d expect bawdy lines delivered with deadpan frankness from the rising TV comedian, but injections of knockabout physicality raise her stage showpiece to higher joy
Sometimes at a standup gig, the environment elevates the material, and context is, if not all, then a lot. This is TV fixture Judi Love’s first UK tour, and tonight it brings her home to Hackney. On coronation weekend, what ensues is two parts standup show to one part crowning of the local girl done good, now returned with an armful of humblebrag tales of hobnobbing with royalty and buying extortionate footwear. What makes it fun is the palpable audience connection, and the expressivity and command our host brings to not always exceptional material.
That expressive flair is on display early, when Love begins her life story with an act-out depicting the clapped-out coming together of her ageing parents’ egg and sperm. This one puts a real marker down: haughty and deadpan may be Love’s default mode, but she’s no slouch at physical comedy, painting this anthropomorphised conception scene with precision as well as a canny eye for the funny.
