I Love Lou C, Just the Tonic at The Mash House, Review

Submitted by Erin Roche on Wed, 16 Aug '17 3.20pm
Image
Rating (out of 5)
5
Show info
Company
Lou Conran
Running time
55mins

As filthy as she is fabulous, Lou Conran is a superlative storyteller who expertly walks the difficult tightrope that hangs between tragedy and comedy.

Not many performers could manage to create a show that starts and ends with a simple task of purchasing mascara in Boots and fill the bits in between with disappointing love affairs, funerals, the sex lives of one’s neighbors, grief, and earplugs--all while keeping the audience in fits.

Upon turning 40, Lou receives the results of a fertility test, and they aren’t as robust as she’d hoped. Following a tragic yet hilarious romp through her pondering sperm banks and experiencing utterly “cheeky” bedroom play with a shite lover, she winds up pregnant despite the medical results. There’s laughter in droves, yes, but there’s a brow-furrowing, smile-fading, gut-wrenching portion to this show that emerges when she speaks about losing the daughter that she so desperately wanted.

It takes a strong comic to write a show about losing their child, and it takes a strong woman to stand up and share it with us. As heavy as this show gets at points, the story flows with a rare and visceral genuineness. Painful moments coupled with knockout monologues and impressions punctuate her set, and you feel as if you’re no longer in a rather unassuming Fringe venue off Cowgate-- you’re having tea with that eccentric friend that has something poignant, uncomfortably real, maybe a bit dirty, and compelling to say.

Frank, fierce, and unafraid, Lou’s I Love Lou C is a masterclass in longform comedy, her hour feeling like an beautiful, cursive-typed expletive written on fine stationery. Go see this one.

*Lou is working to raise £50,000 for Saying Goodbye, a charity that provides support for those in the traumatising position of losing a child. www.sayinggoodbye.org

Aug 17-27
13:20
16+