The pandemic made many of us reevaluate our lives and, if the Fringe comedic output is anything to go by, plunged many stand-ups into a state of crisis. Lou Sanders realised that her commitment to comedy, whether it was taking part in TV projects, touring the country or hosting a podcast, left little room for hobbies and friends outside of the business. So she decided to take up rollerskating. In One Word: Wow we hear about Sanders’ skating experiences and falling for a younger man in the process.
Sanders’ style has always been a little bit daft, but also self analytical. You can tell she’s spent time engaging with her emotions through therapy and with the aid of some of her ‘woo-woo’ healers (you may spot that she’s usually accompanied by crystals when on stage). The show itself doesn’t have much in terms of an remarkable narrative arc, it’s more of a meandering tale punctuated by readings from her ‘skater diary’ which, by her own admission, are a bit rambling. Sanders is known for her lack of filter and thrives on the audience’s reactions to her quips.
Discussions about falling for a younger man and the double standards that ensue (feeling a male comedian could partner with someone much younger woman without issue) have been done before, but Sanders has enough wit and wisdom to make the material feel fresh. Sometimes the material flows well, at other time it feels like the comic’s delivery is frantic, appearing to lack punctuation and sentence structure, like she’s in a desperate rush to get to the end of the show. This means sometimes punchlines can be missed or jokes fail to land. It’s still an amusing hour of comedy but with some little tweaks it could be fantastic.