HOW TO START YOUR OWN CULT at The Bill Murray

★★★

“each comedian individually has some very funny moments”

Cults are a rich and potentially comic goldmine, so it was a slight surprise when it became quickly clear that this show has nothing to do with its title.

How to Start Your Own Cult is a series of character monologues performed by three comedians. In a witty voiceover, the audience is welcomed to a seminar: how to start your own cult, and told that we will have to work hard to find the link between the monologues and the seminar itself. This is a comic way of admitting that there is little to no through line between these sketches. It is funny, but leaves the show feeling disjointed and a bit random. Each of the nine monologues is introduced by its tenuous link to the seminar, for example: people in cults have neighbours, here’s a sketch about neighbours. It’s a fun way to attempt to link the pieces, but it falls a bit flat.

This show is a work in progress, and so shouldn’t be judged as a completely finished product. There are some technical glitches, a few forgotten lines and some nervous pauses, but none of that matters. What does matter, is the issue of a lack of cohesion and coherence.

It is crucial to say, each comedian individually has some very funny moments. Ben Goldsmith does a series of sketches about biblical figures, each with an increasingly outlandish accent. My favourite is his vision of the tiger, awaiting her turn on Noah’s arc, getting her nails done. His sketches are funny, slick and work well together. Though they feel a tonally a bit off with the other comics’ work.

Kate Davison re-enacts her character’s gritty, but out of touch documentary about modern Britain. This is a great idea, and the character she has built is a great blend of satire and self-ridicule. There are moments she could turn it up a few more notches, it doesn’t have the confident ridiculousness of Goldsmith’s sketches, but there is definitely a gem of something, and with a bit of polishing it will work really well.

The third comic, Chris East, performs three very different monologues, combining music, audience interaction, and control over silence. He makes quietly waiting for the correct intro music a golden comedy moment. His sketches are not interlinked with one another, though they all demonstrate his taste for amping up a familiar situation into something weirder, and more surreal. They need a bit of tightening up, and there are some pacing issues, but all three have glittering flashes of comic gold.

Each of the sketches is enjoyable, and it is a broadly amusing hour of comedy, especially for a work in progress. The issue is that the show would work better if there was a stronger link between the pieces, or even no attempt at a link at all.

HOW TO START YOUR OWN CULT at The Bill Murray

Reviewed on 26th August 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

More Camden Fringe 2023 Reviews:

Invasion! An Alien Musical | ★★ | Camden People’s Theatre | July 2023

This Girl: The Cynthia Lennon Story | ★★ | Upstairs at the Gatehouse | July 2023

Glad To Be Dead? | ★★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | July 2023

Maybe I Do? | ★★★★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | July 2023

Flamenco: Origenes | ★★★★ | Etcetera Theatre | August 2023

All That Glitters | ★★½ | Rosemary Branch Theatre | August 2023

Dead Souls | ★★½ | Etcetera Theatre | August 2023

Kate-Lois Elliott: Gentrif*cked | ★★★ | Museum of Comedy | August 2023

Improv The Dead | ★★★★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | August 2023

Avocado Presents | ★★★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | August 2023

Sarah Roberts : Do You Know Who I Am? | ★★★★ | The Bill Murray | August 2023

End Of The World Fm | ★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | August 2023

Ashley Barnhill: Texas Titanium | ★★★★ | Museum of Comedy | August 2023

The Vagina Monologues | ★★★ | Canal Café Theatre | August 2023

Not Like Other Girls | ★★★★ | The Queer Comedy Club | August 2023

Improv Death Match | ★★★★ | Aces and Eights | August 2023

Theatresports | ★★★★ | Museum of Comedy | August 2023

My Body Is Not Your Country | ★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | August 2023

How to Start Your Own Cult

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★★★★

“Roberts feels at home on the stage, performing with a laidback confidence that sees anecdotes flowing seamlessly together”

According to Sarah Roberts, the only two things we should take away from her show are firstly, how hot she is, and secondly, how talented. Whilst you are entitled to your own opinions on her attractiveness, although this reviewer is firmly in the ‘certified hottie’ camp, Sarah Roberts’ work in progress show is conclusive in demonstrating she is indeed a talent to watch.

Roberts’ is a millennial with unashamed main character energy. It’s an affliction fed by an adolescence inspired by iconic noughties teen dramas. But the troubled glamour of Effie and Marissa can’t be matched in real life when you go to an all-girls school and don’t meet boys until you’re sixteen. Coming to terms with turning thirty, dealing with anxiety and discovering her sexuality all feature in this hour of stand-up, interspersed with plenty of pop culture references that will be music to millenials’ ears.

Roberts feels at home on the stage, performing with a laidback confidence that sees anecdotes flowing seamlessly together. Her cute, girly aesthetic and sweetly soft voice add to the charm. Suiting the main character vibe, she often reacts immediately to her own jokes before the audience has time to respond – remarking on how much of a ‘legend’ she is, or following the punchline with a breathy titter. This only adds to the fun – reinforcing the view that it’s Sarah’s world we’re all living in.

Despite that, it’s clear she still wants to be relatable – with her regularly taking the temperature of the audience. Whether that be asking who else attended an all-girls school, or auditioned for S Club Juniors. Unsurprisingly, some questions receive much louder cheers of familiarity than others. But that never impacts the laughter for the content that follows which, other than a bit about being Henry VIII in a past life, feels specific and fresh.

Visual aids help build a picture of Roberts, in case you didn’t know who she was. A badly cropped image of her face transplanted onto the body of a cartoon worm looms large over the stage through most of the show, whilst an extended bit about Candy Crush as a coping mechanism is supported by a slide show complete with tacky fonts and intricate transitions.

One might say that this show explores 21st century feminine identity and how it’s formed through media and the male gaze. But that would be far too analytical a critique. Really, it’s a show of ‘just girly things’ topped off with a vindicating dance number that’s relatable in its honest and unique perspective.

HOW TO START YOUR OWN CULT at The Bill Murray

★★★

“each comedian individually has some very funny moments”

HOW TO START YOUR OWN CULT at The Bill Murray

Reviewed on 26th August 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

More Camden Fringe 2023 Reviews:

How to Start Your Own Cult

How to Start Your Own Cult

SARAH ROBERTS : DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? at The Bill Murray

★★★★

“Roberts feels at home on the stage, performing with a laidback confidence that sees anecdotes flowing seamlessly together”

SARAH ROBERTS : DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? at The Bill Murray

Reviewed on 6th August 2023

by Amber Woodward

Previously reviewed by Amber:

Sarah Roberts

Sarah Roberts