Making her solo stand-up debut after finding cult success as half of sketch duo Lazy Susan, Freya Parker’s ‘It Ain’t Easy Being Cheeky’ is a folksy, ambling hour that pays tribute to the joys of being ‘a cheeky guy’.
Her general conceit is that she’s a cheeky guy, probably around 50 percent of us are cheeky guys and, uh… actually that’s kind of it, a gentle celebration of people who like to amuse that essentially offers an opportunity for her to take us on an hour of whimsically autobiographical material. Some of her stories are very amusing, notably the account of how she pretended to be deaf on a childhood holiday to France. And it builds to a deft climax, as Parker discusses her father’s early death – she ruminates on passing the milestone of the age he was when he died – while making exaggerated honking noises every time it threatens to get actively emotional: her thesis is that a cheeky sense of humour can be a way of dealing with loss.
It is, to be clear, very nice. But as somebody who made her name in sketch comedy, it’s hard to shake the sense that Parker is just not really playing to her strengths here. ‘it Ain’t Easy Being Cheeky’ is more like an amusing chat than a show actively going all out to make us laugh or think, and there’s a lack of real cohesiveness. The stuff about her dad might easily have formed the backbone for a much more structured hour, but you sense that she doesn’t really want to go there. A comforting set that’s like a pleasant catch-up with a friend… but not a huge amount more than that.