Sold as a dark comedy, ‘Catherine McCafferty: (Not) That Bad’, promised to take us “on the journey of growing up in alcoholism, coming out of the closet, watching her dad die and (arguably) worst of all: shitting herself in public.”
I won’t spoil the show, but there are definitely some key events that McCafferty has excluded from that list, and they definitely appear to hang heavy on her. And I don’t say that as judgement, they would on anyone. However, I found myself lost in the sadness of the stories, rather than the comedy she was deriving from it.
Certainly, McCafferty’s routine mostly elicited polite chuckles that felt as much obligatory as genuine. This isn’t to say there weren’t funny moments, such as a truly awkward hand job reenactment, and a left-field incest joke, which all suggest that McCafferty certainly has talent as a stand-up, but this routine wasn’t really working in its whole form.
I thought the stage dressing was effective, with 10 life events written on cards suspended across the stage with string. These events comprise the narrative of the show, as McCafferty outlines how each of them correlates to a formative event in her life. The full importance of these cards become apparent as the show reaches its conclusion, and the raw honesty and bravery of McCafferty in those moments is admirable
In time, I genuinely believe ‘(Not) That Bad’ could be a great show. It has important messaging, the genesis of the jokes are there, and the sheer charm and personality of McCafferty will propel it far. But it’s not there yet.
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