Edinburgh News - 17th August 2010

Hello! If you still haven't booked tickets to see Chatterbox in Edinburgh.You can here and here are a couple of reviews for you to read whilst having a cup of tea (obligatory).

Edinburgh Festival 2010: Sarah Millican, The Stand One

Sarah Millican is affectionately waspish and incorrigibly rude at the Edinburgh Festival. Rating: * * * * By Mark Monahan

Published: 09 Aug 2010

Some way into this year’s set, Chatterbox, thirtysomething Geordie Sarah Millican mentions a woman whose weight apparently "ballooned" to a size 12. A second passes. "Ballooned?" She pauses again. "I'd give my right arm to be a size 12!" Another deft hiatus. "In fact," she laments, "my right arm might well be a size 12."

It’s a quintessentially Millicanesque moment. No one on the Fringe makes telling jokes to strangers look easier, and yet behind her breeziness lies a perfect grasp of timing, and an ambitious comic creativity, too.

Her jokes often have multiple punchlines, with which she twists the knife ever deeper into her quarry – be it men, women or, more specifically, herself.

Certainly, her concerns are emphatically feminine. From somehow spending £102 in a chocolate shop to the perils of letting tiny tropical “Nemos” join you in the bath, these are matters that preoccupy few fellows. And yet, such is the originality of her material, the subtle pungency of her delivery, and (for all her self-deprecation) her fundamental self-assurance that she always has the male contingent of the audience laughing as loudly as the female. She clearly loves men – she just rightly finds them slightly ridiculous.

Reflect a second on those errant bathtime fish, too, and you may gather that Millican – who was named if.comedy best newcomer in 2008 – is also incorrigibly filthy.

A further part of her appeal is that, while she has the mug and manner of a kindly young aunt, she also returns repeatedly and with great wit to carnal matters. Even more than in previous years, much of her best material is unrepeatable – and none the worse for it.

So, wit, timing, imagination and – in the Stand One – a venue ideal for both her conspiratorial style and affectionately waspish exchanges with the audience.

Lewd, lovely stuff.

Sarah Millican: Chatterbox, The Stand

(Rated 4/ 5 ) Reviewed by Julian Hall

Sarah Millican's performance tonight is one of the most consistent and accomplished I have ever seen at the Fringe.

A packed audience at the Stand, a venue favoured by many established comics as somewhere more "grown-up", forget the meaning of the word "listless" as the chirpy Geordie gossips her way through an hour of skilful observations on her domestic foibles.

Recognising that being a chatterbox, a nickname she earned at school, is a cover for anxiety and an inability to relax, the 35-year-old comedian delves into the aspects of her life that show that she is rarely at ease. She corrects the grammar on the soft-porn channel Babestation (the only thing on when she finishes work, she says), for example, and in pondering what might help her to relax, she comes up with an unorthodox combination of a hot bath, a cup of tea and some tropical fish.

Not relying as much on the audience as she did for her previous show, Millican still creates a close connection through her subject matter, notching up Brownie points for avoiding clichés while implanting images that will resonate with anyone – the guilty pleasure of wandering around your flat naked even if it means your neighbours start buying curtains when they didn't have them before.

While her love of desserts – she calls herself a "cake pigeon" because she coos outside bakery windows – might sound reminiscent of Jo Brand, Millican is very much her own woman. And she's oven-ready for even bigger and better things.

Edinburgh News - 5th August 2010

Great News!! Some extra tickets have gone on sale for all of my dates at The Stand. If you want some, ring 0131 5587272 or book online here.

Edinburgh News - 4th August 2010

Hello! Got up here on Monday night. Ran through technical stuff with technical man yesterday and did an interview for the Observer. Today is all about panicking as tonight is the first show. Quick note for those of you coming to the shows at The Stand, it's part seated, part standing so get there early if you want a seat. There are plenty of tickets available for the extra show at The Assembly on 25th August at 00:15 here. Must go and worry about tonight. Hugs.

Edinburgh News - 31st July 2010

SECOND extra date added! Bloody Hell! Assembly Rooms 25th August 00:15 Tickets.

Edinburgh News - 10th July 2010

EXTRA DATE added for my fringe run as there are only a handful of tickets left. Come to the Assembly Rooms on 24th August at 11:15pm. Tickets available here

Edinburgh News - 4th July 2010

Tickets are selling so well. I am already over 3/4 sold out so grab some while you can. Keep an eye on here. I'll list any extra shows or gigs I'm doing and post up any (nice) reviews. This is a good start www.guardian.co.uk Exciting!

Edinburgh News - 3rd July 2010

Sarah Millican 'Chatterbox' - The only criticism Sarah ever received at school was that she was a chatterbox. Still is. And now it's her job. She hopes the same fate didn't befall the school bike. Come spend an hour in her charming company as she brings you up to speed on how to celebrate your fortieth, how to pick the best pudding, and talks you through the five stages of tired. It's like having cups of tea with a dirty cow.