Em Humble review: A rich and magical debut
Edinburgh Fringe
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Edinburgh Fringe 〰️
Image: Matthew Wood
by Zoe Paskett
There is a large part of me that was primed and ready to enjoy Em Humble’s Fringe debut Lady of the Lakes due to an existing obsession with BBC show Merlin (perfect series 1-4 ONLY). I have never read the source material Le Mort d’Arthur, and now, having seen Em’s show, I’m confident I don’t have to. She hasn’t read it either and look what she made!
With a 2:1 in English under her belt despite never really reading any of the books on the syllabus, she sets out to defiantly retell the story of King Arthur in her own words. As a woman ‘of the Lakes’ (District), she is qualified in my eyes.
Her co-star is a giant know-it-all talking book, which doesn’t agree and presumably contains all of the correct information, though thankfully we get more of the tale from Em’s multitude of characters. She embodies an anti-union Hand of the King, a horse, a nasal-voiced and officious lake guardian, and an orphaned urchin with dreams of being a squire – my personal favourite – among many others. They each provide a showcase for her wide-ranging comedic abilities and allow plenty of space to play with accents, physicality and the extremely complicated powerpoint behind her.
While I’ve only seen an eight minute set from Em before this show, I’ve been a fan of her for a while online. Her short film Chicken Girl blew me away and solidified her on my personal list of ones to watch. It’s fantastic to see the creativity that makes her stand out there scaled up to such a degree here. She’s as much an artist as a comedian: the vibrant hand-drawn animations that play throughout are simply stunning and play to an absolutely delighted audience (I can see a TV show in there…).
While it is overall a very silly, rich and fantastical hour, she has a sincerity that you simply have to love. A magical debut.
Em Humble: Lady of the Lakes is at Pleasance Courtyard, Below, 16:20 (not 17th). Tickets here
