Lucy Porter

Arts Centre,

Old Town

Swindon

LUCY Porter is not your run-of- the-mill comedian who is content to whizz through a glut of gags before calling it a day, saying:  ‘it’s time to go and have a good night thank you very much’.

She prefers to take things slowly, get to know her audience, wine and dine them first, in manner of speaking.

She certainly knows that the way to a spectator’s heart, or funny bone, is through their stomach, so within the first 10 minutes she had launched into a Swindon knowledge quiz, courtesy of Wikipedia, and was throwing (or getting a kind man named Noel in the front row to distribute) chocolate bars for every right answer.

True to her pledge in the Adver to reward her fans for catching the show she gave away extra treats.

As far as warm-ups go, this was probably the barmiest but her boundless enthusiasm and cheerfulness were infectious. 

And the craziness was far from over.  Lucy Porter is a mother now and as such craves adult contact and longs for the days when she didn’t get banana smeared on her leg. So touring is ‘her respite’ and she intends to make every minute count, hence the title - Me Time.

She told us tales of the joys of motherhood, her involvement in Mumsnet’s penis beaker gate (look it up, it is a thing) and a mishap which saw her nearly debating ancient Greece on radio.

Lucy Porter’s mind works in mysterious ways. From Mumsnet and an examination of her love-hate relationship with her friend Marie, she leapfrogs to the Victorians, only to end up in 1991 Russia and the story of how she effectively brokered peace between the USSR and the West, with a cassette tape and questionable dance moves.

Expertly building up to ‘the greatest moment of her life’, she impeccably blends hilarious observations with surreal anecdotes.

Unique, suitably mad and endlessly witty, she is one of the greats of comedy. – Marion Sauvebois