TANIA EDWARDS

Not My Dog – Soho Theatre

A review by Charli Bruce

At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Tania Edwards was selected as James Acaster’s top comedy pick for The Guardian, as well as Glamour Magazine’s Top Female Comedian and the Mirrors’ Top 5 Jokes of Fringe. It’s also at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where Tania won the Amused Moose Comedy Award where part of her prize was to bring her amazingly witted show ‘Not My Dog’ to the Soho Theatre on the 22^nd of October.

Now, if you were expecting dog-related humour and seeing a furry friend or two, you’ll be in for a shock as there’s absolutely none of that. Instead, Tania focuses on her marriage and baby, making hilarious jokes that make you feel slightly uncomfortable, but have you belly laughing at the same time.

The show is like a wild tour through Tanias’ brain, as she pushes the boundaries on her jokes without ever completely crossing it. She has random outbursts where she interrupts herself mid-sentence with hilarious anecdotes about birthing pools, screaming at her pilates instructor or something almost unacceptable about her Indian-Irish husband.

Tania keeps the audience engaged with her show by having quick wit and perfect one liners. Although some of her jokes border on being highly offensive, like setting her husband up to be a terrorist, she keeps the humour alive with how the jokes are delivered.

It’s not only the jokes that Tania is delivering which makes the show a great one to watch, it’s Tania herself, she really is a star in my eyes. She’s effortlessly funny and has a dark sense of humour, which in this day and age is a blessing.

I absolutely loved the show and could feel myself relating to Tania and her material. The way she spoke about her middle-class upbringing, dinner parties, child and husband really captivated me and the audience. The only downside to the show was I wish it was longer, it felt like it flew by in a matter of minutes even though it was an hour long.

So, if you have a dark sense of humour, love a good laugh and are looking for a show that definitely isn’t about dogs, then Not My Dog is for you.