Natalie Durkin brings her second show, ‘Angle of the North,’ to pleased ears with a well-tuned sensitivity to the audience. Although she’s a new-ish comedian with just a few years under her belt, Durkin’s stage presence is only made stronger by her easy style of joke-writing. To begin the show, Durkin ‘finds the villain’ in her audience, ensuring that they’re all on the same side as she starts to tell her story of life from her perspective growing up in the North of England, hence the show’s title.

Between Durkin’s natural charm and well-trained singing voice, ‘Angle of the North’ is a hidden little gem at the Southsider pub. As she commands the room with songs about her cancer, the kebab guy and her love life, Durkin brings the room together as one whole family by the end of the show. As Durkin finds ways to connect with each and every audience member, it becomes difficult to discern what’s a pre-written joke and what’s just Durkin’s natural charisma.

She still has work to do on the show — hence, its promotion as a work-in-progress — but as it comes together, Durkin is an unmissable talent. She’s still finding the ‘angle’ that makes this piece a show, but the songs and jokes are a perfect complement to Durkin’s warm energy. For anyone who’s looking to support an up-and-coming comedic talent, whose musical skills have rivaled those on the West End, Durkin’s is the show to see.

‘Angle of the North‘ is at PBH’s Free Fringe at Southsider until Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Mon 19) at 16:30