Emma McAlpine attends Gemma Goggin's forthright show about sex and finds it somewhat lacking.
1:30pm is probably not the most ideal slot for Gemma Goggin’s debut show, judging by the facial expression of the old granny on my left, who looks like she’s being held hostage in Wetherspoons on a Saturday night. That said, with a title like Get Laid or Die Trying, you should really know what to expect. A candid hour about the 30-year-old’s sexual misadventures and her tips for success in the sack, it’s hard to find much of interest in this show, as sordid as it is.
Goggin is an engaging and confident performer, with a knack for enlivening stories and a warm, infectious chuckle. What is lacking here is the material, which at its nadir sees her demonstrate her 'Top 5 Kama Sutra positions' with the help of some blow-up sex dolls. This might make for fairly entertaining antics at an Ann Summers party and the old ‘spit or swallow?’ conundrum she muses on has been a topic for debate between girlfriends for years, but as a comedy show, it’s not really up to scratch.
Hidden in the smutty details and basic sex etiquette advice (“Thrust=good, thrush=bad”) is definite potential. There are smart lines scattered throughout and an imaginative section where she acts out pre-telephone sex through the medium of love letters. But any intelligent thought is drowned out by rudimentary anecdotes that lack comedic punch and her inclination to stress the obvious. At one point she even recaps some of her handy hints on a flip chart in case we didn’t get it the first time.
It’s not that I’m prudish. On the contrary, it’s good to see a female comic tackle sex as brazenly as Goggin, a sort of female equivalent to Jim Jefferies. But if you’re going to base an hour of stand-up on no holds barred sex, it needs to have a clever angle to distinguish it from pub-level banter, and in this respect, the show misses the mark.
Gemma Goggin Get Laid Or Die Trying is at the Gilded Balloon Teviot at 1:30pm until the 30th August
Return to the Edinburgh Fringe Homepage
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...