@ The Stand, Glasgow, on Mon 20 Jun 2016
Sara Pascoe is no stranger to our television screens. She is often seen hitting the punchlines on panel shows such as Mock the Week with a profound sense of confidence. Pascoe’s show, Animal, shows a more vulnerable and endearing side to the Pride of Lewisham. Animal is a tight, clever and honest insight into Sara Pascoe’s life as a woman in the 21st century.
The ninety-minute show traverses a wide range of interesting and pertinent topics including Pascoe and her relationship to John Robins, glowworms and teenage party antics. One could be forgiven for thinking that Sara and Cheryl’s reciprocal relationship for getting drugs at parties when they were younger occurred fairly recently; not due to anything about the way Sara Pascoe looks, but her self-depreciating and fairly awkward stage presence is very reminiscent of a teenage girl doing a GCSE science presentation.
The 8 out of 10 Cats guest reveals her wildcard in life is pulling out fictionalised quotes from the Apocrypha Bible. It may sound mundane and rather similar to some of the work of Joe Lycett, in the sense of using existing models in society to bend and poke fun at others with, but it is used as a clever tool within the performance. Pascoe’s performance is tightly-rehearsed and that is evident, but her writing is smooth and incredibly choice.
A high point of the night for the Glasgow audience was a recollection of an altercation that Sara Pascoe had with a fan who wanted a selfie. A mixture of shock and hysterics as we learnt that it is never a good idea to show others photos on our phones without checking what is coming next.
The tour accompanies a book of the same name which explores the female body and its development over time. In a similar fashion, audiences warmed to Pascoe as the evening gathered pace and went on. Animal is a rather safe, smooth but undoubtedly funny look at the life of Sara Pascoe.