Susan Harrison: Should I Still Be Doing This? - Pip Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower - Edinburgh Fringe Review

‘Should I still be doing this?’ That’s a pretty big question to try to answer during an hour long Fringe show in a small and warm room in Appleton Tower, but here is Susan Harrison doing exactly that as she takes audience members on a whirlwind adventure through many of her comedy characters, complete with sketches, songs and a great deal of audience interaction.

Very familiar with the fringe, often performing with Showstopper, the improvised musical, Mischief Movie Night and other improvisers, Harrison returns to the Fringe in her new one women show ‘Should I still be doing this’, where she showcases her skills in character comedy to maximum event. From the moment you enter the room, the show begins with Harrison integrating herself with the audience as a volunteer usher, surprised when the leading lady is late for her stage entrance. There is laughter and cheers straight away as she bickers with herself, playing introductions and adverts, all recorded by herself, as she changes quickly from character to character.

From a Cindy doll who feels overshadowed by the ever popular Barbie, a women with a girl trapped in a well trapped in her throat (you have to see it to believe it), and a panda sick and tired of being photographed in a zoo, Harrison delights with her clever observations and skills in working with an audience, bouncing off of responses effortlessly and illustrating her improvising talents. A sketch that really got the audience going was Fleur Delish, a play on popular online influencers with their wellbeing podcasts, as Delish hosts a live podcast recording, bouncing around the audience and telling them their spirit animal by just looking at them.

Of course, I have to say that, bouncing around the room was made slightly tricky by the room itself, Pip in the newly opened Gilded Balloon at Appleton tower, small and tightly packed, but Harrison made climbing over chairs and reaching across audience members look easy.

Underneath the laughter and the silliness is that question, should I still be doing this, with Harrison commenting on her age, the time she has spent creating these characters with their backstories and sketches, and whether this sort of comedy is still popular. The pure sense of happiness and many a shared laugh would suggest that yes, it is still popular and yes, Harrison should indeed still be doing this, but this big question is perhaps not investigated as deeply as the title of the show suggests it should be. You may leave the room with a song about the question buzzing around your head, but you never 100 percent know the answer.

Susan Harrison: Should I still be doing this? Is a hilarious hour of carefully crafted chaos, a celebration of character comedy and the joy of continuing to be a comedian despite its challenges. You will leave the room with a big smile on your face and the feeling that you have just spent an hour with someone truly funny who welcomes you in and embraces everything that you can bring into the madness of it all.

Susan Harrison: Should I still be doing this? Runs at Pip, at Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower at 19.40 until August 24^th.