Chelsea Birkby’s upbeat demeanour makes her early juxtaposition of being the 0.1% of the population who are fans of 00s one hit wonders the Cheeky Girls with descriptions of the manic/depressive elements of her bipolar disorder entertainingly jarring.

She continues in this vein throughout the rest of her show, skilfully and smoothly intermingling the likes of Adam Levine’s sexts with Eve being tempted in the Garden of Eden, Kim Kardashian with Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Brazilian Butt Lifts with Immanuel Kant. In addition, Birkby playfully skewers overpriced mindfulness courses with her reenactment of admiring and eating a raisin (which in her case turns out to be something entirely different!).

However, whilst Birkby is adept at playing up the absurd elements of being in therapy and issues regarding desire, her stronger moments are when she tackles these aspects in a serious manner. In particular, her inclusion of quotations from D.H. Lawrence and Kant as well as arguing for the benefits of objectification raise valid points rarely heard in stand-up shows, especially ones extensively involving ephemeral 90s pop culture.

However, the most powerful moment of the show involves Birkby’s real life encounter with a herd of horses. Her recounting of this recollection effectively conveys the magnitude of the emotional impact the event had on her and how such simple moments can prove to be self-validating for people at their most vulnerable. It is also in keeping with her tonal shifts that Birkby manages to end this story on a wonderfully ribald punchline.

‘This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky’ ‘s intermarrying of highbrow with lowbrow cultural references may not always be to everyone’s taste, but Birkby’s sheer enthusiasm in doing so enables her to successfully pull it off. The overall result leads to certainly one of the most unique stand-up shows at this year’s Fringe.

‘This is Life, Cheeky Cheeky‘ is at Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Out of the Box until Sun 25 Aug 2024 at 21:20