Rose Matafeo is just like the rest of us. She uses her Notes app for just about everything: recipe ideas, drafts of her will, one-liners. She hates Taylor Swift. She struggles to get her head around the brainrot internet vernacular of Gen Z. And it’s this relatability, delivered with such a natural, frantic rhythm, that will have you smiling and nodding along like a bobble-head cat for a full 60 minutes.
The Kiwi creator of beloved sitcom ‘Starstruck’ and winner of the 2018 Comedy Award at the Fringe takes an introspective, confessional approach to her latest show. She contemplates her twenties, from the boarding school men she dated to being an introvert in London, she lurches into accents and light self depreciation. She examines her own love life, following all of its tragic characters via being dumped in your thirties and the weird world of online relationship coaches – covering subjects which could endanger coming across as bland or clichéd, but are delivered with such zeal and intelligence that it feels like you’re hearing about them for the first time.
It occasionally lurches into rushed moments of chaos which don’t allow space for material to land – and a few comparisons, like those of Harry Potter and Mario Kart, fell a bit flat. But for the most part, Matafeo is truly very funny. The hour takes on an arc, tricking the audience and swiftly, slyly, returning to its core messages. Fierce, clever and unashamedly ordinary, it’s a celebration of being your true, unapologetic self, even if that is a bit normal or not very trendy.
