Ayoade Bamgboye review: Fresh, new comedy with an air of magic
Edinburgh Fringe
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Edinburgh Fringe 〰️
Image: Matt Stronge
by Zoe Paskett
“You can do anything!” says Ayoade Bamgboye, slowly lowering herself onto the microphone stand. She’s taken a clowning course and learnt about play, so she’ll do whatever her body decides. Will she sing? Will she launch into a dramatic monologue? Will she bring out some hand-written visual aids?
I love all of it. Ayoade has the freshness of a new comedian performing without rules or restrictions. You truly have no idea what she might do next, and she makes it appear like she doesn’t either. It’s thrilling.
There’s observational comedy in Ayoade’s debut, Swings and Roundabouts (we can all relate to the feeling of eavesdropping on a restrained, British supermarket dispute that’s about to pop off) but the dial is ever-so-slightly turned, so it's presented with an off-kilter smile and you feel like you’re looking through frosted glass. She seems so delighted to be taking part in the whole process of making something. There’s an air of magic about her.
Born in London, and growing up in Lagos, Ayoade has always been a bit mystical, blessed (or cursed) with the power of prediction at an early age. With a name meaning “crown of joy” and an incredulity that white people can just have a name that doesn’t mean anything and go about their days, she’s feeling the pressure of living up to it. She moved to the UK at 22, and on discovering that it’s the perfect place to be miserable, has created a brilliant way to try and quantify the different levels of trouble Brits find ourselves in, which she reveals with a flourish from behind a curtain.
In a show full of surprise bursts of laughter that come without warning, there is an emotional heart to Swings and Roundabouts that tethers it, and reaffirms the significance of supermarkets as a metaphor for big life moments.
The buzz around Ayoade has been building for months, and her debut is the one that I’ve been most excited to see. Having seen an extremely early work-in-progress – so early that the show has changed beyond recognition – I was expecting something completely different.
But far from being disappointed, this has just confirmed that Ayoade is a comedian with a great deal more to offer, unafraid to experiment, open to all possibilities of what comedy can be.
Whatever she does next, I’m going to be queueing up outside to see.
Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts is at Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 1) at 16:45. Tickets here
