Alex Berr‘s debut show is a fascinating hour of deeply personal storytelling that is nevertheless 100% an hour of excellent stand-up. After a loose but promising work-in-progress last year, Berr has returned with an incredibly sharply written show that is as surgically incisive as any scalpel she wielded during her tenure as a biomedical researcher.

As a young undergrad Alex began to research a rare form of brain cancer for which there is no cure, and comes with a life expectancy of less than a year. Cruelly, a few years later, Alex’s mother was diagnosed with the exact same condition.

‘How to Kill a Mouse‘ sees Berr find a finely-modulated balance between gag merchant and story-teller. As in compatriot Candace Bryan’s show there’s a minigun barrage of jokes amid the compelling story. The show might be based around an unbelievably bitter coincidence, but this is in no way a trauma dump. The overall tone is one of catharsis – including an extended instance of pure primal scream therapy – and a celebration of a clearly wonderful person.

Berr is a vibrant, energetic comic with a playful stage presence that comes across as a little younger than her actual early-30s. She melds this persona with a fierce intelligence – and not merely in terms of her scientific acumen – but with a real emotional maturity and self-awareness. She deals with weighty themes – grief, control, eating disorders,medical ethics – in the most deft and accessible way. It sounds like a counter-intuitive approach, but is endlessly compelling.

Most impressive is the deeply effective way in which she details how the deepest of theoretical knowledge and years of research proved helpless in the face of the rawest, most painful lived experience.

‘How to Kill a Mouse’ should be a sad show. That it isn’t is testament to Alex Berr’s excellent storytelling and the high quality of her jokes. There’s a lightness of touch that some have suggested shows an unsteady tonal balance between subject and execution. This rather misses the point. It isn’t supposed to be a gut punch. The show does carry an undeniable emotional resonance, but Berr is examining her grief from the slight remove of some years, with humour, nuance, resilience, and love.

It’ll be interesting to see what direction Alex Berr’s comedy career will take next once this incredibly personal show has finished its lifespan. One thing for sure is that STEM’s loss is comedy’s gain.

‘How to Kill a Mouse‘ is at Just the Tonic at the Mash House until Sun 24 Aug 2025 at 12:35