The word inappropriate is over used in this day and age. Life’s social mores have changed rapidly from the 80s -exhaustingly now nearly every comment is scrutinised and deemed politically incorrect – so what a relief to be under the stewardship of true inappropriateness.
Mandy Knight takes this word to a new sublime level. Is inappropriate such actions as cultural appropriation; she wears a cheongsam onstage although she’s a petite British middle-aged comedian?
Or is it a well-rehearsed and perfectly timed sexual joke about a middle aged woman taking pride in picking up men 34 years younger on Tinder, and then bonking them silly in a hotel room? Is the act in itself inappropriate or is the telling of the joke in front of a disappointingly small audience what, we as a society, do not expect from a woman let alone one over 50?
Or is it inappropriate talking about your childhood where your father died tragically and your mother is an alcoholic who abandons you in a park when you are eight years old?
Some of Knight’s best content is right at the start when she vox populi’s the audience. Because the audience is so small she manages to ask everyone who they are, then proceeds to mock each individual with her very smart and penetrative English sarcasm. Although the audience was small the laughter and atmosphere was huge; they ate this up.
This is comedy at its edgiest, quick-witted and personal level. Comedy that at times makes you laugh until your ribs hurt and comedy that makes you reflect a mirror on your own life.
Don’t expect an easy ride with Knight. She will heckle you and roast you to a point of embarrassment, but is any of this inappropriate or is it simply clever and incisive comedy?