Hayley Ellis — We Need To Talk About Kevin

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014: Comedy Review

The titular Kevin is not ‘Home Alone’, but Hayley Ellis’ dog. Using Kevin as the anchor, Ellis brings an hour of her life to stage, going through an hour of family struggles and emotional angst in her first sixty minuter at the Fringe.

Pacing a stand-up show over an hour is one of the arts of the Fringe, and it’s rare to find a performer that nails it the first time out. As a début show, Ellis needs to work more on keeping the energy levels high. The introductory video clip doesn’t contribute enough to the room. Ellis needs to take far more control of those first few minutes to grab the audience’s attention and passion.

The show strikes me as one that benefits from a big audience. Ellis is clearly comfortable interacting with the audience. But the small space coupled with a late afternoon slot, gave her a limited number of audience members to work with. At times it felt like she was constrained by her mental script. When it said ‘find someone with a cat’, into the crowd she went.

Ellis connected well, but the interactions felt forced and stopped her building up a good rhythm and tempo over the hour. Ellis’ show moves at a gentle pace, so anything that causes her to stumble is going to have a big impact on the show.

But these are the lessons that you can only gather at the Fringe. While I think a bigger room would serve the performer, a bigger room also increases the costs of an Edinburgh show. For this first hour at the Fringe, Ellis has balanced those contrasting needs. At the end of the 2014 run, she should hopefully know what works, what doesn’t, and what needs worked on for her 2015 show.

There are occasional high points in ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ but not enough to make a memorable show. More importantly there are never any disasters. Ellis has brought a comfortable and competent hour to Edinburgh, and I look forward to seeing how she develops over the next few years.

* * * (3 stars)

Hayley Ellis: We Need To Talk About Kevin
Underbelly Bristo Square, August 1–24, 1610–1710
Tickets available via EdFringe

Listen to Ewan Spence on the daily Edinburgh Fringe Podcast and Radio Show every day from Edinburgh during August 2014.